It's Still Life

This was once a building, now skeletal wood rot rafters, sharp peaks, joists, long beard moss, grey and matted by rain, but the wind is still strong enough to challenge its heavy weight.

Black vultures on the roof ridge. Count them: 1, 2, 3 … and egrets wading the wash; herons picking their way through thick as roof-thatch reeds.

Hey, lady, can I interest you in an airboat ride?

Thank you, but no, I say, it’s the noise – terrifying, must be the same for the wildlife.

The wind catches his baseball cap, and tosses it into the shallows of the Everglades.

He doesn’t retrieve it – there are gators down there.

Written for Sundays Six Sentence Story: “challenge”. . Some artwork is created using Midjourney AI, and is identified as such in the ALT text or captioned. Imagery and poems/prose ©Misky 2023.