Jim McCrary in Black Spring
Notes from Ilsa Holbox -- 2004
Any amount of water
Not quite topical
Gulf of nowhere
Relax under one
Or the other
Fallow in the sand
By the sea
Uh
Gulf
+
Did I mention
The morning
Just went by
2 golf carts
11 bikes
6 dogs
and a bucket
of fish.
Two things:
Heavy air
And
On an island
Considered
Over a beer
Under a palm
Next to a gulf
Surrounded by puns
+
It is the light of course
No wait
The light on the sea
Wet light on the sea shore
It’s that kind of response
Sleeping in the wake
Is that a horizon
Or just a long way off
Here to there
Across blue and gray flat
Even the shadows are not working
What the deal is
Turns out to be
Dusk
+
There is
Always
Always
The question
We know we are
Not invited
What about
Welcome
How can you possibly
Define a
Visit
Was it the
Weight of the
Air
Is that worth
Mention
+
Winging
I meant
Swinging
In time with a surf
Does something at once
Handy and somnambulant
Even
In sleep
Suddenly
From another direction
The wind is confusing
+
Lands end
Not that deep
A place to fall
Uh arc
Uh arch
Into
The gulf
So this is what we really did:
Went to airport
Flew to Cancun
Bought bus ticket to Chiquila
Bought ferry ticket to Holbox
Got off ferry
Walked to other side of “Isla”
Found hotel
Looked at “la playa”
Took nap
+
The morning
Just went by
Lull ed by the surf
Lull ed?
By?
[this is poetic device
and a cheap trick]
+
Reverse the horizon
By turning around
Perception of ‘island’
Arrives