South of Cancer

I.

Blue-green tones don’t split the sky from sea

nor separate from shoreline cantata,

high-flying wings salute hiding mantas

then fold to hammerhead the Caribbean,

palms shimmy against the breeze

textures rub one another with no loss of pith,

mangroves sneak into lagoons, root at a time

bones hide beneath blind fish in timeless cenotes.

II.

Myriad greens of mountains deepen

untie scents of jasmine and tangled sweetsuckle

moth-like people flutter to sputtering neon

long for fantasy on dimming streets

and not so far north of Tulum

Cancun shapeshifts to light antithesis.

Here.

I cannot hold you.

Painting: abstractal by sue 2006