Herons

You arrived in March.
6 or 8 of you?
Settled in the trees around the pond,
Around Lilium's spot.
So much busy-ness.
So many flights, this way, that way, swooping, soaring.
Gathering branches, building nests, feeding in the Fraser and Sussex.
The chicks arrived.
It was wonderful see them growing, getting bigger, testing their wings.
So noisy at feeding time, you could hear them far off.
So much life. So much hope.
Fast forward to July, and you're all gone.
It's as quite as before.
No sign you were there except the empty nests
and the shrubs painted white with your droppings.
May you thrive.