Joan Nilon

Pitted Coral

Joan Nilon

2

Gulls screech over the Florida Keys Clusters of creamy coral Jewels in a sea of vibrant turquoise Scattered like a fistful of opals in a tray of aquamarines Flicked with the finger of a master jeweler into a graceful crescent Slashed down its middle by a yellow-lined black-top aorta Lifeline to sun-glassed tourists snaking up and down its length Weaving toward the prize stone Key West Sultry city shrouded in shade The figure of Tennessee Williams under an old Banyan tree fades into hazy afternoon shadows Descendants of Hemingway’s cats lie limp and sleepy on the still brick patio Out to sea The eerie outline of an old man hunches over oars his boat listing against an orange sunset low on yellow waters with the carcass of a big fish in tow Hungry brown and white pelicans eyes on the Gulf brimming with life perch patiently on the deck of a pink shrimp boat rocking gently at dock their long needle beaks open in yawns Across the Key A raging Atlantic beats its exquisite azure swells against coral reefs taming them into milky foam at lands’ end.

Volume 1, Issue 3 | Summer/Fall 2018 | THE BEACON 21