POETRY-20
Summer 2023
Coyote turning to run away. photo by John F. Williams
POETRY-20
Summer, 2023
Close Call
by Nancy Taylor
Benji, my miniature poodle puppy,
was too mischievous
to bring inside the garden piled with
compost from bat guano, worm castings, coffee grounds—
healthy for the soil, not so much for him.
So, tethered outside the gate
while I watered, Benji rustled around
in dry grass. When his noisy play amplified,
I spied him face to face with a young coyote.
I screeched, ran, and rescued him.
Now safe in my embrace, we rounded
a hedge and spotted momma coyote
saunter toward the scene.
Since it was early summer, I suspect
the young coyote was learning
to hunt by toying with its prey
before pouncing. My heart quickens
as I recall this incident.
Never again will I lead Benji
to the slaughter.
Barred owl. photo by John F. Williams
Encounter On A Quiet Road
by Dawn Jarvela Henthorn
Are you all right,
why do you sit in the road, are you stunned?
It’s hard to tell with an owl. Leg broken?
Wing broken?
Why do you stare
into that thick holly bush?
Are you on to something?
You allow me to come so close and closer still —
I could touch you, but I won’t.
Unafraid you listen to my voice, soft non-threatening.
I don’t want to leave you here alone a car might come.
Should I try to rescue you
with glove and box?
Such a beautiful, healthy
barred owl you are —
your wings look unbroken
with that big stretch and folded back properly —
you took a step on sturdy legs.
Why oh why do you stand in the road —
in a flash you surprise me and are in a tree
I kneel down — what were you after in this holly bush.
When I turn away
you vanish —
silent like a whisper.
Nancy Taylor is a retired nurse practitioner who has dabbled in poetry for the past decade. Her interests are gardening, walking through forests and petting her two fluffy, mostly white Havanese dogs. She loves dogs so much she wrote a poetry book, Can We Keep Him, to benefit Kitsap Animal Rescue & Education (KARE).
As a child growing up on Kodiak Island in Alaska, Dawn Jarvela Henthorn explored tide pools, climbed trees, rolled around in foot-thick moss, snacked on salmonberries, Nootka rose-hips, seaweeds, and limpets. This playground of beaches, wetlands, cliffs, woods, wildlife, left its indelible mark on her art, writing, and personality. She says, “Until urged by my writer friends it never occurred to me that I could write. In fact, I always stood in awe of those who could.” Her sculptural art in soapstone and clay represent the feelings and movements of these childhood surroundings. Over the years, her poems have been exhibited in Ars Poetica, in Poetry Corners, at BPA, the Bainbridge Island Library, and at Mud Puddle Coffee, along with her photos of the devastation from the 1964 earthquake in Kodiak.
Table of Contents, Issue #20, Summer 2023
Art of Defense
Sculptures by David Eisenhour Photos by Ann Welch Captions by John F. Williams Summer 2023 Sculptures of marine life created by artist David Eisenhour. Many of them are very large versions of small things, such as these barnacles and limpets.Sculptures by David...
Defense is in the Gills
by Thomas Noland, Summer 2023 Shag-rug nudibranch and egg ribbon, among other creatures on a pier piling in January. photo by John F. Williamsby Thomas Noland, Summer 2023Nudibranchs are the adorable, charismatic, and voracious slugs of the sea. The Salish Sea is home...
Never a Dull Moment
While one eagle parent gets mobbed by crows, the other one feeds the little ones. Shot in slow motion.John Gussman became interested in photography as a means to share the natural beauty of the places he travelled. After getting a degree in photography, he began...
The Plant Armory
by Sarah Lorse, Summer 2023 Stinging nettle. photo by John F. Williamsby Sarah Lorse, Summer 2023Plants are, predominantly, sessile organisms: a seed lands in suitable conditions, it takes root, and the plant lives out the rest of its days in that spot. Being sessile...
Attack of the Sea Slugs
Intriguing (and rather amazing) defensive mechanisms of some of our Salish Sea residents are shown in these two short underwater videos by Champ Williams. These videos appeared in Episode 18 of the TV series SEA-Inside: Pacific Northwest in 2008. THE SECRET...
Plant Armory Part 2
by Sarah Lorse, Summer 2023 English holly. photo by John F. Williamsby Sarah Lorse, Summer 2023The Plant Armory Part 1 introduced plants as predominantly sessile organisms: they tend to live out their lives in one spot. Being sessile is a significant disadvantage when...
Specters in the Dark
by Jeff Beyl, Summer 2023 Spiny Dogfish. photo courtesy of National Marine Sanctuaries, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commonsby Jeff Beyl, Summer 2023If you spot a shark while scuba diving, in most cases you would consider yourself fortunate. In the Pacific Northwest,...
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Thanks so much for your interest and your support.