Sanibel

       Sanibel

I see it from above
when I come home on high.
I see it brow-low
after I steer towards McGregor
and leave San Carlos Boulevard
behind.

I see it on the map,
Pine Island resting in its lap,
a finger pointing North
from a fist in gloves,
tanning itself in
warm and gently lapping
South-West Floridian waves,
a barrier island protecting
yet another against
the gulf's immensity,
its winds, its sun, its waves,
with all the whistles,
all the bells,
Sanibel.

Who knows if it is
"Puerto Sur Nibel"
of Ponce de Leon or
José Gaspar's Santa Isabella
that is implanted in our mind
as Sanibel.

But we couldn't care less.
The little island paradise
has sunsets, lighthouse beacons,
which guide the wanderer
on waters, luring him,
whispering "Come, son, come
and share the name that
I will tell, it's Sanibel."

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Dan Barkye
Rehovot, ISRAEL
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BIO

A full time writer, poet, publicist, and lecturer, Barkye (rhymes with 'sky') writes fiction and non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and sends his opera to the world from ISRAEL.
His book "Spirituality and Meditation” was published in June, 2008, in the US.
Besides reading his poems at the SW Florida Poetry Alliance, in Florida, where he lived at the time, his poems appeared in the online poetry site "The Critical Poet", where he was nominated twice for "The Best Poem of the Month", and in the Israeli English literary magazine, "Cyclamens and Swords". He is the recipient of a governmental stipend for his literary work.