NBCA NEWSLETTER

Page 3

APRIL 2001

For the Blue Heron Nature Preserve's Heron...

Quiet Desperation
Louis Mayeux (Herrington Drive)

Eating breakfast at McDonald's,
I think of Thoreau and his brother,
on the Merrimack and Concord Rivers,
riding their raft, surprised by autumn,
changed from summer overnight.
Catching a fair wind, astonished
at their speed, they returned
all the way home by nightfall.
On his deathbed, Henry
begged to be read over and over
his words about the journey back.

Muzak fills the bright space,
a movie song I remember.
The nurse in Ella Fitzgerald glasses
sings along, a sweet soprano,

and cuts the old man's meal.
He grins like a child, and slowly eats,
each bite a triumph...his trembling hand.
Waving farewell, I walk,
almost healed, into fine weather.

Driving toward my neighborhood,
I see the Great Blue Heron, standing
in the pond by the condominiums.
They saw a flock of them, that final day,
rising at dawn as they embarked.
I stop and move toward the bank...
In perfect stillness, we look
at each other, sharing a language,
until he senses something in my silence
and scares and flies into the light.

Links to other pages in this Newsletter:

Page 1 - Spring Fling May 6 / Georgia Supreme Court Reverses TAP Associates Decision

Page 2 - Second Park Avenue Condo? / 35 Trees: Cunliffe vs. City

Page 3 - For the Blue Heron Nature Preserve's Heron...

Page 4 - Zoning Report / Seeking Cleanup Volunteers

Page 5 - "Slow Down" Demonstrations / "Turtles" Ruin Tires

Page 6 - NBCA Seeks Board Members

Page 7 - Georgia Supreme Court Reverses TAP Associates Decision - continued

Page 8 - Sewer Project Update

Page 9 - Habitat Resident Celebrates 2nd Anniversary / Annual Meeting Held / Tree Planting Successful