Swallow

Reflections on a boat ride from Key West to the Dry Tortugas

Gulp.
How do you do it?
Aerial dynamo,
over an expanse of water
vast as the earth
from the moon
Is there enough to eat
out there?
On the air
in the empty
wind blowing
shark below
Where does the courage
come from?

I can see you
in her hands – how
Aunt Loret would
hand you to my brother
who promptly let
you go
rickety barn
overhead rafters
not for the timid
no –

A barn swallow
can turn even the most
conceited of homo sapiens
into wimps.

Summer 2026