Back Bay, Los Osos

Marsh & mudflats   pickle weed
& eel grass   wet feathers
pressed into sand

Violet jellyfish the size
of a dinner dish
White egrets   mallards   terns

Mexican polkas leak
from a radio a workman
forgot in the field

Flat bottomed skiffs
greet morning’s tide
wait for her water to yield

& there on the shore
two Monterey Pines
lean as if falling together.

Christine Penko is the author of Thunderbirds, a memoir in poetry, published in 2015. Her work can also be found in journals and anthologies under the name Christine Kravetz. Recent publications include Prairie Schooner and Miramar. She taught poetry in Santa Barbara schools, and was the administrator for California Poets in the Schools in Santa Barbara County. Also by this poet: "For Doctor Emmerson on the Occasion of My New Hip" and "Blessings Upon Water"