Remembrances
Canaveral dawns disclosed a light as clear
As ospreys’ irises. Bald eagle’s claws
Came grasping down on nests constructed near
To God. Atlantic sand as smooth as gauze
From stratospheric heaven saved the prints
Of sandpipers. Pending lace and pearl waves
Erased them in the noontime tide. As hints
Of twilight stray across our family graves,
We pause to think (as great blue herons hack
Lagoon fish and white pelicans swallow
The sea with their mouths) how cape skies “were black
With birds” in long-gone days, those skies hollow
Now but for rocket nightmares whose array
Shows Challenger’s flight being blown away.