earth note 223

white street pier, key west

pelicans hold back
     nothing
     dive for fish
     deep
     all out
     come up empty
     mostly
seagulls
     smaller and more tentative
     always looking for any slight advantage
     compensating for their frailty
tourists
     snap pictures
     peck at their phones
     walk behind dogs
     run along the beach
     hide in the trees
     shake sand off their towels
     read names on the aids memorial

pelicans hold back nothing

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)