Two Poems

RICE GRASS
(Spartina Townsendii)

Praise one appearing
lowly, no man's rose,
but with roots far-reaching
out and down.

Give homage to a spartan cross,
native and American,
hardier and more adaptable
than those; nearly a newcomer
but one that, by staying put
has made itself a home;
also a traveller east and west.

Celebrate the entertainer
of sea aster, sea lavender,
thrift and nesting gulls;
lover of mud and salt;
...