Wings Above the Blue

About this piece

A dark waterbird stands with wings partly spread on a weathered mooring piling, its head turned to reveal a long, pale bill. Bright light picks out feather edges, bleached wood, and hanging rope against saturated blue water and a dark sky. Positioned right of center, the bird anchors a broad expanse of open water, with a low shoreline receding behind it.

The story

In the first days of January, the water carries a brightness that the dark sky does not share. On the piling, the bird holds its wings away from its body, each feather edged with light. A white rope hangs beside the wood, its loose loop answering the curve of the wings. Beyond this small perch, distant birds punctuate the blue, and the shoreline narrows to a thread.