Spirit Bird

Took this photo on April 30, 2018 at South Beach in Miami, Florida. The pelicans were flying toward me, then directly in front, then past and when I aimed directly in front - they passed before the sun and the picture was totally overexposed.  At first, I thought i'd get rid of the photo - but then I liked it.  It looks a little haunting.  And I found this poem:

Haunted Seas

By Cale Young Rice

 A gleaming glassy ocean
  Under a sky of grey; 
A tide that dreams of motion, 
  Or moves, as the dead may; 
A bird that dips and wavers
  Over lone waters round, 
Then with a cry that quavers
  Is gone—a spectral sound.

The brown sad sea-weed drifting
  Far from the land, and lost; 
The faint warm fog unlifting, 
  The derelict long tossed, 
But now at rest—though haunted
  By the death-scenting shark, 
Whose prey no more undaunted
  Slips from it, spent and stark.

Muse

She breathes;
chin high; eyes shut;
pain or longing pouring off
her skin in a smoky blue haze-
spellbound.
 

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Picture taken in Wynwood neighborhood of Miami on April 5, 2018.  The artist is Paola Delfin (@paola_delfin on Instagram).  Mysterious beauty.

Existence

A building in my neighborhood draws me, 
A simple rectangular structure; 
White façade,  few adornments
Except a small central arc near its roof,
With a single word:
EXISTENCE.
From across the street, I stop and stare-
And wonder.
 
Alone on the block,
First floor windows tightly barred;
It looks empty and dark.
EXISTENCE, 
It reads.
I cross the street; look up and stare-
And wonder.
 
Some days shadows fall over its plain white face,
Clouds gather,
Darkness falls, 
But aside from an occasional “For Rent” sign;
It seems unchanged and unchanging.
“EXISTENCE,”
It says;
And I-
 
I Wonder