came upon two lizards locked on each other’s bright blue waddle, as they rolled in the sand, released, then grabbed and rolled again every springtime these dragons duel for the right to woo a girl if nothing else, human decorum has made a trail of texts and online photos a way to meet though old-fashioned, eye contact and a few kind words still works or a blind date if brave enough to go in with eyes open, in most cases, without losing blood or bruising a tail

in war news I see they’re feeding displaced Lebanese on the beaches of Beirut closer to home, the orchestra of birds just before dawn is equally loud and amazing Linda told a joke at the gym this morning that I’m still laughing about and the mangoes are growing so fast I expect to get a first crop by June happiness visited me today though it didn’t stay long, acting more like separate slivers of sunlight as they sliced through breaks in the moving clouds of storms

how cautious and calculated I move, guided by the cloudy windows of my eyes, pulled by a suitcase of flesh with two long legs my wrinkles breed like rabbits while the population of my hair declines, like the upstate New York town I was born in my body and mind stumble more than they ever have and as an expert lifelong gardener, I now tolerate weeds who knows, maybe age and acceptance are becoming best friends