Thanksgiving

The elephant seals      celebrating in
their typical     shouts and sobs     under the pier
undercover sneeze splash     dirty whisker watching
from the gates     white picket pilings     seagulls clucking
for a chance at the lottery     cup your hands around my eyes
periscope portrait    the seals are being painted
tightrope sleeping on the struts     head to flipper
magic tricks    seagull goes into the hat     your hands come out
seals vanish into thousand pound secrets    heads gray
tails gray    water cloud gray whispers    your
fingers like paintbrushes     turn my eyes into dark stars
eyelash whiskers    sketch a song in your ear
the smallest sea lion    yawns poetry