by Dorothea Barth ©2011
Lost fish in Catalina
Fine iridescence shattered
Alas, upon on the hard stone floor
Ceramic shards were scattered
A boat of gleaming vintage
Preserved with care and pride
Departed when the sun set
Old Blanche would be our guide
Gracefully she glided past
Casino and past cove
And then to our astonishment
Fish jumped and skimmed and dove
Amidst the silver flying fish
I thought I saw a trace, a speck
Of that ceramic flounder
Once worn around my neck
In this fair place to life transformed
With new creatures befriended
Come now ashore, Two Harbors begged
The silence here is splendid!
Across the lonely isthmus
Below the red horizon
We suddenly froze still to greet
A solitary bison
The renegade departed
From once familiar flock
Now near humans gathered
And grazing near a rock
Our mutual curiosity
Begged all us to stay
Brown majesty so haunting
We could not turn away
Not to be forgotten
As we left the isle
The forlorn bison couldn't know
How much he did beguile
In place of my departed fish
(Though not quite what I recall)
Around my neck now shimmers
A bison standing tall
Copyright 2009 Dorothea Barth. All rights reserved.