earth note 713

1

it all started at the southern tip

of digby neck in nova scotia

the whales speaking of loneliness

but with their innate knowledge

just before sun up

knowing the atlantic as deep

as the coming rain

before it doubles back as a nor'easter

painting the shoreline deep rocky gray

disregarding any difference

between night and day

2

by the time you reach

the acadia wilderness

autumn will finally take hold

all the storms pushing inland

the possibility of a few weeks

looking dry

3

from cape cod

there are drums

banjos and fiddles

before the state park

closes for the season

one more trip to provincetown

for the rainbow frame houses

4

it's a long stretch down

to ocracoke island

sometimes the headwind

as beautiful as it might be

will stop you like a wall

choose your winter coat carefully

or don't stop until you get to

5

daytona beach

in the company

of a thousand beach bikes

there's always a cajun dance

that started somewhere in nova scotia

don't care if they call us squatters

so far the sand is still free

and the roar of the highway muffled

by the rush of the halifax river

--- e b bortz