Poetry Out Loud is open to all each first and third Wednesday of the month at 430 in the Manzanita Library…We gather to read or simply enjoy listening to the poetry of others. Not our own. Next Meeting
is this week, June 17, 2026
A Dark Night
On the shore in la barra de Santiago
lightning opens a black horizon.
Under a cloudy tropical moon
she will emerge from a warm sea
and slowly move out through scattered
coconut husks and mango seeds beyond
the reach of even the highest tides.
She will build a nest on what is the shore
of her birth. Sea turtles will navigate
immense distances and often go deep, down
to great depths, where in complete darkness,
timeless minutes pass between heart beats.
Ashore, she will dig her whole body down,
then dig a deeper chamber, a cache to protect
her valued eggs. Seldom do the arriving turtles
pass unnoticed. There are hungry ones here,
some with machetes and bright lights and
they all know how to wait. Sea turtles
are ancient beings that are now approaching
extinction. But on this dark night, she will secure
a continuing future for her kind. Her distinct tracks
will be erased, washed away by a warm rain,
destiny buried deep, safe in the nested sand
and I will wait for her.