Summer Sloth Series…. The Turn

After my work-crew teens went home I stayed at

the bridge indulging my perfectionist tendencies 

scraping the last of the moss and woody weeds

from the stone’s joints  … and so discovered tucked

within a crack a tiny ring-necked snake   pencil slim   

perfect in its neat grey skin    Minutes later riled

yellow-jackets swarmed from a hole   stinging through

my gloves   my clothes  …and chased me from the bridge   

They could not be allowed to live where people pass so

close each day  …but later I thought…  is the wasp less

perfect then the snake …are not all nature’s children

innocents   living obedient to their calling… ?  Each day

begins without fanfare    is engaged unsuspecting    not

knowing when the turn will come  …if there will be one

2 thoughts on “Summer Sloth Series…. The Turn

  1. lovely! speaking of Seamus Heaney, sort of, have you been to the Irish Hunger Memorial in Manhattan? it is amazing. i have some pictures from a NY garden binge I did in June…

Comments are closed.