Misty Isles
A poem by Joel Perusse
22 September 2022
In the morning
mist twirls
A lacy nightgown
Between the proud tops of
An evergreen canopy
Greeting the west coast
With an emerald smile
The purple majesty of morning
A dichotomy of sunrise
Black to the West,
To the East
An awakening Golden Crown
Enshrined in mountain forest breath
The haze makes the whole thing
A pastel smudge
A Group of Seven landscape
The current like an electric Bolt
Zig-Zag crack placid ocean glass
Crows caw from power lines slack
Every new dawn
Brings with it
A palette
With its own unique personality;
Today’s vibrant ochre and lilac
Washes into the lingering ultramarine
Of another expired night
Hinting a pleasant day to come
I watch a silhouetted kayak
In the glass inlet
As swimming ducks
Cut across in the opposite direction
All over fish are popping out of the water
Teasing as I sip my steaming coffee
Here the sand whispers
And spits
Life tucked away inside shells
Waiting for a bath
As monsters loom overhead
My footprints
— the proof I was here
Conversing and negotiating
My peace —
Linger just long enough
Coaxing the tide
To explain to her my brief visit
I hope she doesn’t rue my arrival
… if I was one to pray
I’d pray her mettle reinforced
I’ll be gone soon
Then I can give you all of me
Thank you
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