Poetry / Skate
One night last spring we walked
out onto the dock to watch
the phosphorescence play in the
lapping tide on the riprap.
Between two boards below our feet
we glimpsed a faint green glow.
We laid down flat on our bellies
and peered over into
the black brackish mirror.
Buried under our reflection
was a flock of underwater birds,
glowing skate, florescence tracing their
flapping wings. Dim silhouettes
defined by the blank space
of the dark river. There must have been
twenty, haloed in muted green
like a ghost ship,
a reluctant comet, a drowsy
meteor, a thousand tiny fireflies flashing
around this mob making them appear
to us together as one.
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Beautiful poem! Vivid and arresting imagery. I appreciate your vocabulary (riprap, brackish, e.g.). You brought me into the scene and I was mesmerized.
One thing is unclear to me: There is but one skate (compared to many birds), yes? ”a flock of underwater birds, / glowing skate” “There must have been / twenty” “making them appear / to us together as one.” These passages (with the singular title) made me think so, but I’m unsure- maybe this could be made clearer. Thanks for the lovely read!
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