Annual Reunion

Annual Reunion



Summoned from the deep in early May,

         they drag ashore on Delaware Bay.

Horseshoe crabs hide their eggs in the sand,

         as though everything was planned.

Like rusting artillery from a forgotten war,

         their plate-like bodies litter the shore.

Descending from the fluttering sky,

         are Red Knot Sandpipers dropping by.

They know eggs are in piles,

         and have traveled five thousand miles.

Two weeks to double their weight,

         then off to the arctic by June to mate.

A few decide to stay around,

         too fat to lift off the ground.



12 lines