Grass  

            After we pulled up anchor in River Cove
            that morning and sailed down the channel
            stopping when we saw a bald eagle
            gliding along the tree line
            big messy nest in the dead top
            of a living pine, three young eagles
            no white showing yet on their heads
            and the father perched now in a nearby tree
            vigilant

                            after we felt thunderheads
            looming behind us and turned in again
            at Little Harbor to batten down and after
            the storm passed us by, hazy sun
            appeared and we took the rubber boat
            in to explore the stony shore, pick
            driftwood and beach flowers and sit
            on a warm flat rock in the water

                             then we found the grassy place
            up the bank under evergreens --
            yarrow and loosestrife and fireweed
            desire only a fingertip away -- shed
            everything -- small pine cones in the tall grass
            tart green needles overhead, misty sun
            bathing us

                               afterwards the pattern
            of the grass imprinted on my calves
            my thighs, lasted all the afternoon


            Anne Fowler  (Click for bio.)

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