Mounted on horse, zebra, or lion,
The riders circle toward the river in perfect formation,
Then circling away only to return,
Their thoughts captured by the passing boat
And how pleasant the skyline from that distance.
.
Maintaining their balance on deck,
The passengers gaze toward Brooklyn in reasonable formation
Then facing the skyline only to return,
Their thoughts captured by the carousel
And how pleasant the skyline from that distance.
First year cardinals shop new homes,
While butterflies wrap up.
Salvia pedals fade,
Ceding stems to seeds,
And oak leaves spiral earthward,
Blanketing drowsy roots. ‑‑
How my autumn garden yawns!
Salvia dominate the garden in back,
Their flowers blooming in waves
Then falling away together
Before flowering as one again.
(Seek butterfly conduct for blame.)
With seeds scattered back in spring,
And low leaves like weeds through summer,
Autumn blooms now reach for hearts.
A quiet early morning walk
May loosen a stiffened calf,
Unlock a blocked solution,
Reset a troubled heart.
Soon it will be seven, and the bridge master will raise the drawbridge for the first time.
The gears will bellow as the plates bend upward tall-masted ships released at last will ease through the opening churning the waters as they pass soon after that the plates will descend again and the line of waiting cars long now will pour onto Cathedral Street hood-to-trunk hand-to-horn jockeying for too few parking spaces this will play out every half hour again and again and again till seven p.m.
But not at this moment.
Lone ketch at dawn
Moored off the seawall
During an incoming tide –
Pleasing interlude
Between night and sunrise
Sun steals silently through the inlet
To scale Castillo’s eastern walls,
But alerted palms stand ready.
Newly blossomed rhododendron
Accompanied by blooming azalea
Call on a locked door to open wide
With the sun still below the horizon,
The river slack-tide still,
And the docks emptied of crews debarked,
Three shrimpers, bound by size,
Slumber undisturbed in morning’s quiet.
Vilano Images 