Appearance
APPEARANCE
It was just another day.
The heat was as thick as
the cloud of dust my car
kicked up on the long dirt road
to my friend’s house,
an oasis of order in the
central Florida jungle
along the Peace River.
We sat on the verandah
and talked quietly
while condensation sparkled
down our tall, cold glasses
of pink lemonade.
The coffee colored water
of the Peace slipped slowly
past the crisp edge of
the smooth, manicured lawn
which cut a window in the wall
of jungle and revealed a secret world
of dark birds, heavy
reptiles, and jeweled insects.
She stepped through the back door to
answer the phone,
letting a cool breath of air
waft across my face, and missed
a momentous event.
The spirit of the river appeared.
Among the golden leaves
floating on the high tension surface of
the water, a
black head,
the size and shape
of my hand rose slowly
from the mysterious, dark water
and glistened indigo in the sun.
He ascended the edge
of the grass to my left, followed
by a long, dark rope as big
as my upper arm and made
a slow turn to gaze
accusingly at this
clean scar on the chaos he ruled.
Then, dismissing us as only
temporary, outlandish ambassadors of
strangeness,
he measured the length of space
I could see with all his thirty feet
before returning to that wet empire
where he reigns
supreme.
She came back with fresh drink
and another waft of cool air
and I could not speak
of what I had seen,
for something in her eyes
said she would not believe.
Copyright
Vol Lindsey
2014
Copyright © Vol Lindsey | Year Posted 2022
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem.
Please
Login
to post a comment