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.

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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.

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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.

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Florida wildlife huddles among lichen-spotted

conifers, heavy with air plants and majestic live oaks,

their muscular arms sweating in afternoon’s humid haze.

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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.

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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.

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