August Garden: Key West

Neither the sea nor gulf have salty words To speak across the hot and slumberous day; Even the slow tides under the circling birds Make small half-hearted patterns and drift away. Within the high-walled garden dream the flowers: The red hibiscus with its tight shut eyes, The bougainvillea drowsing in scarlet showers Under the copper trellis of the skies. Above the tall poinsettias the allamanders Drop golden heads into their emerald leaves, And where the velvet blossoms of oleanders Lean heavy on the air a lone bird grieves Over a parching fountain white as lime. The sundial’s hands lie still, defying Time.