Turnstones

Even in sunlight, they’re hardly seen,.
these handsome seashore birds.

Instinct makes them wary
of predation, unwittingly disguised
as they, in turn, peck about for prey,
their camouflage complete.

Once seen, they warrant watching:
doing what it says on the tin -
turning stones among the rocks
or along the harbour walls.
Foraging for food.

They come and go, or so it seems,
as they blend into the rocks
and pebbled pools.
Sometimes so static
that you cannot tell them
from the space they occupy;
mostly, as they must,
just turning stones.

You could watch away the minutes,
taxing eyes, if not binoculars,
spotting and unspotting them.

So then it comes with some relief
when a gull or two intrudes
and they flock into the sky,
across the waves, then wheel and turn,
only to resume once more,
these incognito birds,
their hiding and sustaining habitat.

Prodding, poking, pecking once again -
and, like us, forever turning stones.


December 2015