Stillness in the reedbed, still—the unseen heron’s-kin. The stealthy bill; the
silent wading. Secretive on water’s edge. No buff, broad body, no bowed
wings on the bush-border ledge. Such bitterness—but then: wind blown
over glass-bottle neck: bull of the bog’s booming call. Butea + taurus: hawk-
bull: butorius, Botaurus. Low—slow—breeze bitten five kilometres away.
The bullish call of the mire-drum: boom (to bond)—boom (to breed)—
boom (will not build or brood). Botor, butor, butterbump. Bittersweet: to
hear, not see.
Bethany Mitchell
Bethany Mitchell’s writing has recently appeared in the Crested Tit Collective’s Rewilding anthology, amberflora, Visual Verse, Seiren and Psyche. She is currently studying on the MA Poetic Practice at Royal Holloway, University of London.
OSMOSIS PRESS 