Here In Paradise

Marmalade drips from the sky, and all around me, the world is awash in vibrant orange splendor splashed with yellow gold Here in Paradise where graceful palms lean toward dipping sun I dip my toes into the liquid amber of the tide. As if to catch the day’s last rays, I embrace radiance as it embraces me. Far off in the distance, the stretch of mountains on a neighboring island cradles what remains of the sinking sun. I have now waded out into the sea. . . my eyes savor the sky’s color of sweet marmalade and below it, water’s warm honeyed gold lapping softly at my shoulders. Suddenly a swarm of swooping wings bursts from the heavens! My eyes now feast on hundreds and hundreds of dark wheeling gulls, stark against the bright sky - the marmalade sunset’s surprise finale. For A Place Called Beautiful Contest of Janis Thompson