Wetland Concert by Jennifer Lagier

Wetland Concert

"Down in the shaded woods by Crow Creek, Brown-eyed Susan is awake now and singing." ~ Diane Porter

Sunflowers border meandering trail.

Their scratchy leaves blow in ocean breeze,

a whispery summer percussion.

Yellow mustard erupts along muddy sedge.

Laden willow limbs groan under sparrows.

Lizards skitter beneath silver sage,

golden sonatas of fluttering poppies.

Tule berms part as a green-headed mallard,

his mate, and phalanx of ducklings emerge,

perform a squawking refrain.

An irate gander hisses at joggers.

Red-wing blackbirds and gulls

chirp, chatter, quarrel.

Bullfrogs conclude wetland concert

with a bass beatbox coda.

Jennifer Lagier lives a block from the stage where Bob Dylan performed with Joan Baez and Jimi Hendrix torched his guitar during the Monterey Pop Festival. She edits the Monterey Poetry Review and helps publicize Monterey Bay Poetry Consortium reading series events. Jennifer has published twenty-four books, most recently Postcards from Paradise (Blue Light Press), Illuminations (Kelsay Books), Reelin’ In the Years (Cyberwit). Forthcoming:, When You Don’t See It (Kelsay Books).