New Works page 2

Fisheating Creek

by Patricia Asuncion

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‏‏‎Dew’s coolness heightens anticipation as the canoe

slips into chocolate silk water like a slow, meandering

water snake coiling through cypress,

its tongue taking in all the primordial sensations.

‏‏‎ ‎

The ash and mahogany canoe encounters

hordes of buzzards crouched high up

on barren limbs like body bags.

Great Blue Herons and Pink-Billed Ibis fly just ahead;

instinct drives them from this floating intruder.

‏‏‎ ‎

The lone hawk’s warning cry excites

Gray-Speckled Limpkins and Black-and-White winged

Wood Storks who stumble into lift-off, their shadows

painted beneath magnificent wing spans.

‏‏‎ ‎

Florida wildlife huddles among lichen-spotted

conifers, heavy with air plants and majestic live oaks,

their muscular arms sweating in afternoon’s humid haze.

‏‏‎ ‎

Soaking in white-hot sun, a lone alligator

smiles then slips into cooler waters near the boat.

Everywhere at water’s edge there are

bustling cities of butterflies, ominous planets of hornets,

well-fed spiders from overhanging branches.

‏‏‎ ‎

Close to journey’s end, the craft is cemented

in place by strong, blustery winds. Pushed by chance

to water’s edge, the canoe is coughed up unharmed,

eager for another adventure along this dark beauty.

‏‏‎ ‎

[first published in Armadillo Anthology, 1997]

Habits of American Habitat

I do many small things just to change my habits…

– Greta Thunberg, Environmental Activist

When I drink my water from a handy plastic bottle

or from a glass at home,

use store retail and grocery bags

or my own recyclable containers,

buy cheap picnic utensils and supplies

or use my home provisions,

I add to the more than 5.25 trillion pieces of ocean plastic,

250 million metric tons by 2025 or not.

When I drink my convenient K-Cup coffee

or brew in a coffeepot,

stop at a fast-food place for take-out

or bring my brown bag lunch,

buy a frozen, prepackaged meal

or make a simple dish at home,

I add to the 268 million tons of US garbage

#1 in world

in toxic landfills or polluting incinerators or not.

When I grasp a paper towel to swipe a spill

or cloth rag to clean a spot,

buy eggs in Styrofoam containers

or get fruit in eco-friendly bags,

cover lunch in plastic wrap

or store leftovers in old glass jars,

I add to unrecylables in toxic landfills,

or worse,

the 25% already polluted at recyclable sites or not.

When I spray Roundup pesticide

or plant mums against intruders,

flush unused pills

or return old meds to a hospital

pitch old paint buckets in the back-alley dumpster

or recycle house paint at the dump

I add to the 13 tons per second

of world hazardous waste,

40 million tons per year or not.

2024 PSV Jeffrey Hewitt Memorial - First Place