Herons

You arrived in March.
6 or 8 of you?
Settled in the trees around the pond,
Around Lilium's spot no less!!
(Is that a coincidence?)
So much busy-ness.
So many flights, this way, that way, swooping, soaring.
Gathering branches, building nests.
A rookery.
In time, the chicks arrived.
Wonderful watching them grow.
So noisy at feeding time.
So much Life. Realized Potential. Hope.
Fast forward to August, and you're gone.
It's as quite as before.
No sign you were here except the empty nests
and shrubs dappled white.
May you thrive.