Private Island

Private Island

land ringed by water
or
hillock surrounded by ditches
or
moat-girdled earth

find calm amid chaos

eke your island from swirling demands

compose the anthem for your personal cay

plant your flag on salt-sprayed dune

pledge allegiance to your center of the storm

--bam

SCUBA Fantasy

SCUBA Fantasy
…from the Weekly World News

Finning along the reef
in the turquoise sea
she luxuriates in the silken
flow of salt water over her skin.

Streams of silver bubbles
mark her trail.
Red shrimp, blue parrotfish,
yellow jacks, purple crabs
play hide and seek,
alternately predator and prey.

In the distance a dark shape
grows from the abyss.
One by one fish and critters
disappear as if by magic.

Through gin-clear water she
sees the glittering red orange
snout of the giant seahorse
sipping a reef fish dinner.
Its black-pearl eye turns her way,
considering dessert.

--bam

Dance Ring

Dance Ring

Circle of limestone,
moss cushioned,
paved by decades
of laughing feet.

Limpid green
canopy
arching overhead,

Music of water,
earth and air,

Harmony of insect buzz
birdsong and
rain,

Dappled sun
strikes cold ash
to flame.

Cradle my heart
until I return.

--bam

Main Street, Bonaire

Main Street, Bonaire

Sun beats on bright
stucco,
Dutch Colonial
architecture in
Caribbean glare.

Salt air peels
paint like sunburnt
skin,
a never-ending battle.
Faded beauty
is the enemy of prosperity.

Shuffling tourists trail
down clean-swept
walks,
consider art made in Taiwan,
trinkets from China.

Coppertone-slick flesh
shining bright pink
radiates its own
heat
collected from the rays.

--bam