A flattened Cane Toad lies
in the street. Its poison can kill a dog.
They hunt by the garage at night
under the light - run when I come out
leap into the garage door
with a THUD. Invasive.
Poisonous.
Not bright.
When the temperature drops
below 40 in South Florida,
iguanas fall from trees like rain.
“Don’t touch them” we’re told
these colorful creatures are dormant.
They advise us to kill them -these visitors
from the Jurassic. I cannot.
How could they know they’re trespassing?
Purple stalks of Lupine carpet Iceland
their color pops against green moss.
Their beauty out-competes
local flowers - poses for photo ops
with tourists picnicking by “Keep Off” signs,
blankets old lava flows and glacial melts.
Visitors stride from ships and planes to seek
this island’s treasures - yet urge it to trade
silkies for Sea World.
Loosestrife blooms each August at riverside
in my old town. The mill wheel turns.
Art hangs in the stone museum.
People come for the small shops and fine buildings
but stay for quiet streets overcast by ancient trees.
The area booms when the Interstate is finished -
corporate folks out-compete farmers.
Agway loses to Walmart.
Commuters careen past hay wagons
on country roads.
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Published by
Cynthia M. Sheward
Cynthia Sheward has written poetry since she was a child. She was born in Massachusetts but spent her young life in New Jersey. She applied her English degree from Arcadia University teaching junior-senior high school in Vermont the 70’s. In the 80s, she and her husband built their own house with their own hands in the mountains of North Carolina. In the 90s, she returned to NJ where she worked for a Fortune 500 corporation until her retirement.
Her work has been published in Friends Journal, Evening Street, the Bennington Banner, Fiber Arts Magazine, the Mountain Times and various other print media.
She currently resides in Jupiter, Florida.
View all posts by Cynthia M. Sheward
Where we vacationed for years on the North Shore of Lake Superior, the Lupine filled fields and grew along the back country roads…purple, pink, blue…mixed in with Buttercups. Beauty in nature. You say all this so well.
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Thank you. Lupine is so lovely.
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