This is a Great White Egret (Ardea alba), that I captured in flight. It is a survivor from prehistoric times, a distant relative of the pterodactyl. Its closest living kindred are the Pelicans. Standing up to 3.3 feet tall, this species can measure 31 to 41 inches in length and have a wingspan of 52 to 67 inches, which I certainly captured here. In North America, large numbers of them were killed around the end of the 19th century so that their plumes could be used to decorate hats. Numbers have since recovered as a result of conservation measures. In 1953, the great egret in flight was chosen as the symbol of the National Audubon Society, which was formed in part to prevent the killing of birds for their feathers.

In this poem I tried to capture the startling effect one can have when it suddenly takes off, not only on humans, but also on nearby wildlife. I think this would look nice hanging in an art exhibit, and noted the white on green motif.

This poem is a Dixon.
The Dixon measures the differences between masculine and feminine rhyme. Patterned after the poem, "The Feathers of the Willow" by English poet, Richard Watson Dixon (1833-1900).
The Dixon is stanzaic, written in any number of Sestets made up of 2 interrhymed Tercets. It is metered in trimeter, with 2 of the lines of each Tercet being feminine iambic trimeter (7 sylables with the line ending on an unstressed syllable), and one being maasculine (6 syllables) . The rhyme scheme is:
aabccb in each Sestet.
For this poem the total rhyme scheme was:
aabccb ddbeeb gffghhg iigjjg.
The third and sixth lines of each Sestet are typically indented.
The feminine lines also feature "falling rhyme", where the rhyme of the last two syllables is on the first (or stressed syllable), while ending on the unstressed syllable.

For this I actually interlinked the male rhymes of stanza 1 and 2, and interlinked the male rhymes of stanza 3 and 4. That is not a requirement of the Dixon, however.

While I achieved the "falling rhyme" in the first stanza, and the second tercet of the third stanza. I couldn't manage it for the entire poem, as I was forced to use slant rhyme often.

This photograph was taken by the author himself on May 23, 2017.

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