Dolphins at Dawn
by James B. Nicola
That morning we swam with them, they were there.
That’s all. It seemed so unremarkable.
To be with them was simply natural.
Though we had arms and legs, they didn’t care.
They did not circle round us, did not play
per se as if, though human, we were toys.
Nor did we try to pet them as if they
were pets, and ours. Nor make a lot of noise.
I was in awe of them, while they may have
been merely tolerating us. They were
wild, after all. And yet Live and Let Live
was how they lived. Although I’m no more sure
of this than I am that the day I swam
with dolphins barely changed the way I am.
Bio:James B. Nicola is a frequent contributor to Green Silk. The latest of his eight full-length poetry collections is Natural Tendencies. His nonfiction book Playing the Audience won a Choice magazine award. He has received a Dana Literary Award, two Willow Review awards, Storyteller's People's Choice magazine award, one Best of Net, one Rhysling, and eleven Pushcart nominations—for which he feels both stunned and grateful.
Occupational Prioritization
by Marc Darnell
You'll get that little crumb tomorrow,
the staple snagged in the carpet,
the hair on the dull tile
that moves around day to day.
You go home and try to forget
it is all there, but try not to forget.
As you try to sleep, the crumb,
the staple, the hair spin above you--
they are beginning to choke you.
The next day they are not
where they were, or
you forgot their locations.
New ones arrive to eat at you–
a small leaf in a vent out of reach,
lofty cobwebs in the vestibule.
Forget.
The world burns: this is nothing,
and you should be looking for love.
Bio: Marc Darnell is an online tutor and custodian in Omaha, Nebraska. His latest books are Forecast: Increasing Visibility (Kelsay Books 2024) and The Mining Muse (Impspired Books 2024). He has 3 times been awarded the Academy of American Poets prize.
