A heron wades between dark mangrove isles,
while the tidal wash swirls around his thighs.
At sign unseen, he hides among thick stiles;
green leaves and dangling stalks make fine disguise.
Over there, osprey circles wide and low,
hunting fish scales gleaming below water.
How can he hover, his wings beating slow,
except by design of his Creator,
and evolution?  Those two divine plans,
one a set patten, and one, constant change,
have underwritten everything that man’s
achieved in this Earth.  In all I arrange,
I see these two in a loving tension —
pattern and motion in interaction.

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