There was a Greek vase admired  
So much by one bird, 
That admiration itself 
Stepped in and conferred 
The heir apparent 
Its broad-bellied, narrow-necked 
Shape: the first heron. 

Jake Sheff is a pediatrician and veteran of the US Air Force. He’s married with a daughter and a crazy bulldog. Poems and short stories of Jake’s have been published widely. A full-length collection of formal poetry, A Kiss to Betray the Universe, is available from White Violet Press. He also has two chapbooks: Looting Versailles (Alabaster Leaves Publishing) and The Rites of Tires (SurVision).