On Crooked River, Lee Zumpe
Twilight descends on Crooked River,
darkness swathes the marsh grass,
filters through the surrounding
pine scrub.
I sense the fragile crossing between day
and night, when witch-fires
glow in the lowlands and graveyards
shudder.
The rustic charm of southern Georgia
appeals to me no more,
but I am trapped in the serpentine sweep
of the water.
Wormy lungs and a mouthful of mud,
I have no voice to protest
my unfortunate interment on
Crooked River.
Lee Clark Zumpe, an entertainment columnist with Tampa Bay Newspapers, has been writing poetry and fiction for more years than he cares to publicly disclose. His work has regularly appeared in a variety of literary journals and genre magazines.