by Ann Humphries

I will arise and go to Edisto
to a shabby-chic inn with rocking chairs
on a pastel porch with beachfront views,
and morning espresso with fresh fruit and scones
and cheer on children cartwheeling on the beach,
and, at sunset, I will bathe in turquoise air

and plein-air paint the ravenous gulls
strafing the packed hulls of shrimp boats
then inhale the marsh where graceful herons glide

and redwing blackbirds boast, “Con-ca-ree,”
and evenings, engage in lively tete-a-tete
(because those are the rules) and extol
the lacy-petticoat waves with the incoming tide
and order fried oysters and local beer,
then adjourn to the shore to count the falling stars

immersed in the indigo velvet of night,
the sounds of calling owls return me to rest
and I shall sleep with windows open to surf.

Ann Humphries is a poet, hiker, birder from Columbia, SC. Her first collection, An Eclipse and A Butcher, debuted in 2020, and her second collection, My Blind Obsession, will be released November 2025 . Most recently, she has been featured in Coast Lines: A Poetry Anthology, Kaklak Anthology, and the 40th anniversary of The James Dickey Review. She is a SC Humanities Speaker/Scholar, a South Carolina Notable Woman, and her papers are archived at USC’s Special Collections. Read her work at https://annhumphriespoet.wordpress.com/.