22 April 2018

The air was heavy
with expectancy.
Not for naught the boat
tied to the dock,
the coach’s boat
already ready for the season.
The boat sat a fact
practice was imminent,
coaches and crews yet
to people the scene,
a scene on edge because of the absence
of activity.  The throb of athletes
was awaited, young men, and women
turning electric the air
wherever they are present.
A distant commotion foretold their coming.
A pair of cormorants went alert.
A man arattle amidst lobster traps
clattered to a stop to watch.
A gull landed with perfection
atop a partly crumbling piling.
Then appeared the crews, in step,
shells over their heads,
to the dock, and into the water,
causing the whole of the scene
flow into action.

Philip Kuepper
(22 January 2018)