Two poems in the heart of winter
No Time for Egrets
The egret trailed
a veil of bridal-white feathers
as it eased delicate
double-jointed steps
toward the bait
in my bucket
on the beach
on the Gulf
I waved my rod at it
“Git!”
It moved three unhurried steps
with the grace of a dancer
to the adagio count
of an unheard beat
but then was back
and back again
“Git!”
I’ve got my own song
stuck in my head
‘any time now’
‘any time from now’
don’t need your reminder
of looming
pecking
pesky losses
“Git!”
I’ve still got a line in the water
Knitting the Waves
An offshore breeze
wrinkled and rolled the Gulf
into running waves
chasing each other
to finally break into frothing foam
around my shins
while a pair of slick grey dolphins
shiny and thick
needles
lift, knit and purl
to a beat that pulls them along
soothing
calming
inviting me to find
my centering pulse
my quiet place
in a roiling sea
Free-Floating Stories+ 
The egret, so true. Beauty in slow motion.
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Nice, Joe
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Joe, I am missing my Snowbird time in Florida but your poems transport me there and evoke memories of sunny warmth, the smell and sounds of the roiling Gulf And the life that Inhabits the Gulf shore. Thanks for taking me to the beach.
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Really enjoyed the poems, fresh, sparse yet rich and full.
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Yes to all the others. Thanks. Our below zero weather here had me see and help warm a nearly frozen, barely alive white-wing dove. While it was warming in my home its mate outside was crying, a sound I’ve never heard before.
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