Capital Punishment

The Capital River’s burst 
Its banks, its topsy-turvy 
Tributaries overflowing 

Towards high ground, 
Headed for the safety 
Of the safe-deposit boxes 

Buried underground. 

Last Strand (Remembering Rachel Carson)

Let it be duly noted
In the margins—

On every grain of sand,
The edge of the sea

Remains elusive
And indefinable,

A boundary whose limits
We could not plumb.

The Miraculous Lemon Tree

Almost within reach, there 
Outside the window, 
The lemons hang 
In ones, twos and threes— 

Many an old demotic song 
Likens the twos to 
A maiden’s breasts— 
Firm, fragrant, rejuvenating. 

I bet even a dull old poet, 
Reeking of death, 
Could fall asleep here 
And wake up smelling 

Like a rose. 

Mythical Flocks of Polyphemus

Of this land, strangely naïf 

Bigger than life shepherd’s 
So far away yet so near 

Next to cyclopean walls 
Stony grey and white 

Sheep perambulating on 
Flank of olive covered hill 

No wonder all seems 
Incongruous, innocent— 

No man’s lie ends here. 

Elation

A high bluff overlooking the sea; 
You ring the bell of a solitary 

Whitewashed chapel, the blue sky swells 
With undulating tintinnabulations, 

The earth moves imperceptibly 
Under your feet.