[Lee Gurga]

Originally posted by Tim Murphy:
Berthed in Key West Bight--
a cold front brooming the bay
sweeps boats to the rocks.

Lee, Steve, everyone. What joy to see this thread at four pages and growing! I am not seeking compression for my verse, rather expansion. But I offer this traditional 575 for Lee because he knows the Bight better than I do. Had I had access to a Zodiac that day I could have saved a Morgan 38 and taken title under the Law of Salvage. The insurance company would have paid the owner, and I'd have had the yacht. Woulda, shoulda, couldn't.

Hi, Tim! Great to hear your voice here. It is is your fault i am here, and i want everyone to have a chance to blame you!

Of course, you know the Bight much, much better than i do--i have only ridden by it on my bicycle, you know. I think it is fair to say that we are all seeking expansion, though not necessarily in the number of words. YOur story makes me think of my dear friend Reef Perkins, legendary wrecker and comic poet sublime!

And speaking of key west, i would like to invite all of you to the Robert Frost Poetry Festival there next April 15-19, 2009. Here is the link, in case anyone is interested: http://www.robertfrostpoetryfestival.com/ (I hesitate to share this since there are a couple of stupid pictures of me from a couple of years ago on the site.) I will be giving a workshop there and there will be half a dozen other workshops by poets better than i, i can assure you. Here is one of the haiku i wrote there this past April,also 17 as you might notice:

sunset in the keys--
the puzzle of my life
with one piece to many

Lee