1.

Cicadas hum

harmonize in waves.

A compressor rumbles low.

Plips and plops

of tennis balls

advertise the skills of the players.

In a lull

a blue gray gnatcatcher

launches its zpee-pee.

I strain to hear.

Bongs vibrate

off the backboard.

Ballers scrape for the net.

As I play tai chi,

I move forward.

My intent is

go backward

backward-forward.

Breathing in

up

breathing out

down.

I accept all

hums, plips, zpee-pees,

bongs, scrapes.

They pass through

my still

moving core.

2.

 

Gulping splashes,

two snapping turtles

thick with duckweed

stretch their long necks

nip at each other’s throats.

The bigger mounts the smaller

slips off

climbs up again

wraps its serrated tail

around the female’s.

They flip over

huge claws gripping.

They tense up

to release.

 

Quietus

 

Precious babies

on the way.