FOMITE
A heron slips along the shoreline as if on rice paper. A great angler, he will place a reflective object on the water’s
surface—a pin oak leaf, for example—and watch for a fish to investigate. The heron’s patience, driven by necessity,
far outstrips mine. Fifteen minutes in and I lower the binoculars to look for other birds. Meanwhile, the green
heron waits, motionless, seemingly dispassionate, until a fish is in range and he strikes. Is it hyperbole to compare the jolt to lightning? His long neck shooting out and snapping back, he breaks the water’s surface like a diver with barely a ripple and comes back with the catch. He is fed because he waited, quiet and watchful.
(from Green Heron)
Review in EcoLit Books
About the Author
Derek Furr grew up in rural North Carolina, taught public school in Virginia, and lives now with his family in the Hudson Valley. He is a literature professor and Dean of Teacher Education at Bard College. He is the author of two previous Fomite books, Suite For Three Voices and Semitones, as well as critical works about poetry, sound, and performance.
