Sunset Beach NC Poem by Richard Taylor

ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A MARSH IN MY BACK YARD

The restful wideness of it, the golden mood,
saltmarsh cordgrass (spartina alterniflora),
yellow-green and tall

the occasional gull that wings
white against the long gray line
of trees edging the mainland.

No tending or trimming required—

a home for countless
amphibians, arachnids, arthropods
butterflies, oysters, crabs

a place that gives all and asks nothing in return
except to be left alone.

On the spine of its causeway, the soothing
swoosh of traffic queuing up to cross the drawbridge
after the shrimp boat chugs past
slow as an hour hand.

Its only disadvantage—the war between unseen Moon
and resisting suck of muddy earth—a quiet violence

that rocks the chair beneath me
churns up the silt of daydreams
and makes me late for breakfast.

From Punching Through the Egg of Space by Richard Allen Taylor