earth note 660

1

from pine key bight

it's about equidistant

to the bridge at no name key

on the northeastern end of doctors arm

or the highway one bridge crossing

a little south at spanish harbor

but on a windy day in a kayak

when the whitecaps start to show

and you get your no-compass bearings turned sideways

it's easy to be fooled into thinking

you might be at a mouth

of a great ocean

when in fact you might only be disoriented

on the blind side

of big mangrove key

or refuge key

so keep those bridges in sight

2

with the last hurricane

the water rose all the way

into the no name bar

and up the walls

covering half the dollar bills

tacked up by regulars & travelers

     after everything dried out

the money remembered

where it had left off

     depreciated of course for insurance purposes

while the beer bottles had cleared out

before the power went

3

just before the storm

some key deer migrated

to the highest mangroves

scrambling for cover

avoiding the traffic jam panic north

resourceful swimmers all

--- e b bortz