Blooded early,     alone,     but it's a cinch:     just peeling skin on spattered rock to a pooling cry     gleaning god & grief with sharpened ease     fated late to survive (then thrive) with nowhere to hide...     a tear-filled alkahest  taking liminal shade 'neath a cool palisade     always teaching death with a bug-eyed splat or chipping a cough from...

Poppies, Sails ’n DreamsO’er Gulf of Maine’s blue a gull soars high ’n free …poppy blessed Isles of Shoals scattered far below.As a sail-rigged yawl slips silently alee,days-of-yore dreams through my voyager’s soul flow.Richard Jenkins©2025