an afternoon at crandon

forked palm fronds

barely block the sun

canopy can't block caribbean

tropical transcends latitude

spf is matter of survival

amaze scald burn-shore

sand sticks and upsets

whimpering non-chancleta'd feet,

swift sprint seek shadow

breeze belies tranquility

dunes stand complicit

whispering sea grapes tell secrets

of the ships that won't make it

better to be elevated, inland

for the night of a storm

unpredictable rise waters

flood is greed and time unkind

evacuation plans equate lockdown-like

bunker, sand bags, bottled water

where does beauty turn belligerent?

how do clouds gain velocity?

and what do whipped droplets feel

as they wash the sorrows—

the freak off pains and unwanted,

unmooored yet necessary

of a land that never showed grace anyway