October 2026, Poetry

To Say the Least

Least Sandpiper – Calidris minutilla (excerpt)

Description: The Least Sandpiper is a small shorebird, about the size of a sparrow, with brownish upper parts, white lower parts streaked with brown on the chest. They have yellow legs and a short, thin, black bill.

Interesting Tidbit: The Least Sandpiper is the smallest shorebird in the world, weighing in at only 1 ounce. Yet, they can fly nonstop for 1800-2500 miles during migration.

To Say the Least

is to say the smallest –
is to say that’s no twitch of the eye
It’s like saying there exists
in the world of peeps
some greater, faster shoreline speedwalker.
To spot the leasts –
time-lapse stitchers of the strand
– to hear their pin-piped preet
is to count the least
among us

~ Katy E. Ellis

October 7, 2026

About Author

katy e. ellis Katy E. Ellis is the author of three full-length poetry collections: Nature vs. Girl (Fernwood Press, forthcoming in Fall 2026), Forty Bouts in the Wilderness (MoonPath Press), which was first runner up for the 2024 Sally Albiso Award, and the novel-length prose poem Home Water, Home Land (Tolsun Books). She is also the author of three chapbooks, including Night Watch—winner of Floating Bridge Press’ 2017 John Pierce Chapbook competition—Urban Animal Expeditions (Dancing Girl Press) and Gravity, (Yellow Flag Press) a single poem which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Visit: https://www.katyeellis.com


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