i live here
Tom Stock
on sand, near water
with gentle morane
a cape spread to the north
in the spring and fall plankton bloom
in winter where hot water pond doesn't freeze
in spring and last years garlic bulbs sprout
I live here
with two million others
500,000 cars
mall upon mall upon mall
litter concentrated at every exit
noise
I live here
boat lines canal, white sails full
dunes with red bands of sand at their base
pine barrens dry crikley oak leaves afoot
tall tulip trees with old barked trunks
the birds, the birds, the birds
a great egret flaps over Southards Pond
white sheet drying on a line
i liver here
since 1962 to learn to smell salt air
to hike, to pick off ticks
to sit against a tree
write this poem
i live here by Tom Stock.
Published with author's permission.
