Gannets

The white birds of the north arrive
in a horizontal blizzard more dazzling
than sun-glazed new snow.
Gliding for hours just above the wave-tips,
they barely move their wings,
gracefully riding the updrafts off the
windward slope of the wave then
shallow dive to the lift of the next swell.
Now the amazing dives, with such speed
they impact the water with righteous high
sprays carrying the birds below the
abundance of shimmery shoal.
But this that can easily be seen does not tell
how I,
out of body,
rise this time with them,
turn the angle,
and dive with that churning
thrill of fast descent
ready for the impact
transformed to plumage of holy white
our icy blue eyes
open.




Carol Amato


My poetry has recently been published in the anthology, From the Farthest Shore (Bass River Press), Tiny Seed Journal, The Poet’s Touchstone (New Hampshire Poetry Society), Poem Literary Journal, and the 2023 Mutual Muses Ekphrastic Exhibition sponsored by the Cape Cod Cultural Center. My photography has also been recently published in the The Poet’s Touchstone (Poetry Society of New Hampshire) and Avocet, A Journal of Nature Poetry. I am a natural science educator and author of 11 nature books for children published by Barron’s Educational Series and John Wiley. My greatest wish as a child was to fly, and now I have can have winged words!