by Patricia Asuncion
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]
© Patricia Asuncion
School, Patsy’s ticket out of the ghetto, led to her education career, highlighted by Palm Beach County Principal of the Year. Patsy’s first poetry book, Cut on the Bias 2016, second Lineage of Weeds 2023 and feature in, The Best 64 Poets of 2019, Black Mountain Press, depict her world slant as a bi-racial, first-generation immigrant. Her poetry is in twenty-plus anthologies and online presses e.g., New York Times, About Place, Artemis, and Cutthroat. She promotes diversity through national, community, open mic events (YouTube 25,000+ views), detailed on her website.
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