Poems and Impressions on the Gulf of Mexico

Come take a personal tour of the Gulf of Mexico through personal photos and original poetry of my impressions

Photos from the Gulf of Mexico by Peter and Mindy Makuta

All poetry copyright Mindy Makuta (aka MyFairLadyah) Reprint with Permission

I have scribed but a few

Of my Gulf impressions for you

Of places and living things

That I hope some joy brings

To those who can imagine seas

And sabal palms and island trees

Of dolphins out in the blue

As black-beaked birds swoop

If you wish to further explore

In other lenses I cover more

Of sunsets and fishermen

To capture these warm feelings again

And also a little song

With simple words to sing along

Blue-green waters with white sand

Lover's holding hands upon the land

You, Gulf are lovely about your wide arc

Birds and fish are home in your water park

I look out at the Gulf's green-blue

My feet dug into the softest sand

I try to imagine not leaving on cue

When an angry hurricane roars toward land

The laughing gulls play above me

Black tipped wings discerning their kind

These ones staying right by the sea

Not raiding trash piles for meals to find

Fish are jumping some yards out

Gulls and pelicans swooping to catch

Parents and children lazing about

Or running to shore with great dispatch

It's October and there are no clouds by

Perfect weather for beach day fun

Tonight I expect a cloudless sky

Following the orange setting sun

Twenty miles west of Apalachicola

And a long way down from Pensacola

I lay on a Gulf beach of sugar white sand

Across from St Joe's Bay; not much dry land

Soaking up the unfiltered Florida sun

Our exploration for a while is done

Except to walk into the Bay at low tide

Letting the coastline be our guide

Feet stepping in the soft mud looking for shells

There are no waves or tidal swells

Had very nice steak salad and tuna salad for dinner

Neither one will make us that much thinner

Now relaxing at our cottage on the Marsh

The clime right now anything but harsh

A Song Writer's fest is in town

Planning tomorrow might to boogie down

Then the plan is driving onward to Tampa

As we wave goodbye to the tall pampas

Night arrives slowly on these marsh grasses

Brimming with small creatures one cannot see

I'm in a place away from the teeming masses

Spending some R & R writing poetry

Morning arrives with mocking birds

I'm sipping coffee on the screened veranda

Relaxing, reading, and writing these words

Remembering our walks on the sand

Heard fine music from the Songwriter's last night

Under the stars with local folks

Clear sky and the half moon bright

Telling stories, drinking beer, drinking cokes

Flags of blue and white announce their Hellenic past

As aromas of Greece waft through the narrow streets

"Buy natural sponges - a lifetime they'll last"

Harvested from local Gulf waters via daring feats

Of diving to the seabed to scrape these collections of cells

Multi-purpose, absorbent and used through the ages

Sold around the world and in shops next to shells

A renewable resource with little ink on the pages

In Ybor City last night,

We ate a fine meal by chandelier light

Watched superb flamenco dancing

Capturing the essence of Spain's romancing

Castanets in snaking, fluid hands

Whirling skirts of Andalusia lands

Men in tight clothes stomping their feet

And clapping, clapping in Iberian beat

The umbrella flutters in the stiff breeze

That forms white caps o'er the choppy seas

Sand is packed from last night's rain

Allowing footprints to mark the terrain

Yet, a gallant skipper sails his craft

Keeping well-positioned fore and aft

Such is this midday observation

From my lowly blanket station

Iron Man came to Clearwater Beach

1600 went 70.3 endurance miles

Swimming, cycling and running for each

To end at the Finish with broad smiles

Sweat from pounding muscles this day

Through calm surf and flat shore

Plus the hill of the bridge over the Bay

Leaving them the afternoon to rest and explore

Two dolphins swam up to say hello today

And then retreated back to the Bay

Who knows how they spend their day

Jumping the surf on a beach holiday

Schools of green fish colored like the tide

Swam at my feet or right beside

They appeared see-thru, below the water, like green glass

So hospitable of them to let me freely pass

Then, I spied these eely mackerel shapes

Just below the surface of the tidal scape

People and fish happily together

Enjoying the lovely Florida weather

Oh lovely little gull

Preening of your tail

Pulling out what you can cull

Though wind's blowing a gale

Oh my fine one footed friend

Looking all around you

Where will you be sent

When the sky's no longer blue

Blackbirds take wing and then alight

On the high white railings within their sight

Dipping and diving on currents of air

Over bodies of water of nature and men

Sharing the skies with gull and pelican

While the palm fronds twitter like green hair

I briefly glimpse the talons of the hawk

Circling, gliding on the wind-driven air

But I keep my composure and do not gawk

As the practiced flyer is so debonair

With wings extended for maximum lift

His feathers spread in perfect symmetry

He glides specifically and does not drift

To a point in his native telemetry

Silhouettes of palms afore the darkening skies

Paint a postcard for distant eyes

Capturing the twilight in simple lines

Before the stars make their spectral signs

This touch of beauty is forever etched

So distant mind can have it fetched

As a memory retrieved on another day

When palm trees live so far away

Blue green ripples float to me

From the Bay; this landed sea

As pelicans grace the midday sky

And masted ships let pennants fly

It's a perfectly warm October noon

Not much cooler than it is in June

Red tile roofs cap the peopled shores

With blue green ripples at their doors

A sea breeze blows through humid air

And dries it for your pleasure

It quells the warmth for you to bear

Lets you live your life of leisure

Today, the first chance of rain greets my senses

With heavier, humid air and darker skies

I put on a jacket to shore up my defenses

And await the storm to materialize