by Mickey J. Corrigan
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| Ghost forests occur when high tides push seawater into forested areas and salt poisons the trees, turning them a bleached white. Ghost forests are currently appearing up and down the east coast of the US at an alarming rate. Photo: Cameron Pollack for NPR |
The sun comes up
the sun goes down
the trees turn white
the beach looks skeletal.
The rain comes down
the sea comes in
the trees soak in salt
instead of fresh water.
The storms come up
the sea washes in
our forests poisoned
dead limbs in the sand.
We walk the beach
stuffing our sandbags
as storms come in
more storms come in
the tides rise up
the tides rise higher...
our bones flash white
littering the shore.
Originally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan writes tropical noir with a dark humor. Novels include the mystery pandemic tale Songs of the Maniacs (Salt Publishing, 2014), Project XX about a school shooting (Salt Publishing, 2017), and What I Did for Love, a spoof of Lolita (Bloodhound Books, 2019). In 2020, Grandma Moses Press released the poetry micro-chapbook Florida Man.