Closing

When I close my eyes,

I stand again before that window

As the sun slips

Into the shallow water

Of early evening.

Cars cross, trucks cross,

Someone on a bicycle crosses

The high-rise bridge

Linking distinct worlds.

In the silence,

I weigh the value of this one,

How it responds to the voice of the sea.

Watching,

I feel the fading warmth of daylight

Through the pane

As blue drifts into purple.

The white heron and the blue,

The osprey and the stork

Are out of my range

As they perch on the salt-dried trees

Along the Intracoastal,

Silent and waiting.

The sun slips away,

And so does the heat.

I feel it

At this window

As I think of those birds

And what it means

To return.