Notes About The Poem

We were lucky to be at Aransas Pass when the national park at North Padre Island released a clutch of newly hatched Kemp's Ridley turtles. It was an experience to remember forever.  RAY

Kemp's Ridley Release

I was there for the "frenzy"
  On the Padre Island shore
The day the park rangers
  Set the tiny turtles free.

Eighty-eight babies 
  Struggled to the gulf,
And I was there to see.

They paddled and pushed their way
  Toward the morning sun.
One hundred fifty watched--
  I was only one.

A net extended over them,
  Protection from the gulls.
Flags on long poles waving
  Made the bandits mull.

The babes like bite sized cookies
  Sanded with brown sugar.
They moved away with purpose,
  Each one near the other.

In a decade the "arrabada"
 Will follow a storm ashore.
Each will leave a "clutch" behind
  Of maybe a hundred more.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2017

Poem

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Kendrick Avatar
November 11, 2018 at 3:13 PM
Ahh!! Such an experience. It is amazing that any survive with all the predators that will feed on them but some make to adulthood and back to lay eggs. Sara
Telemacque Avatar
July 7, 2018 at 12:10 PM
i support the turtles too ;great piece
Pettinelli Avatar
June 26, 2018 at 8:16 PM
Thank you for sharing, I like your style of writing. Your use of imagery made you feel as if you were there. Being a poet myself I expect a lot from a poem. I've read some poems and couldn't understand them. I look forward to reading more of your work.
Choudhary Avatar
June 25, 2018 at 1:28 AM
Truly wonderful
Dietrich Avatar
June 5, 2018 at 6:13 PM
this is such a cool description of this great event. I loved the "bite sized cookies" image and the last verse showing the future.
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