Wambaw Creek

draped over one knobby knee
of a majestic cypress,
a cottonmouth dozes
beneath a blanket
of cozy April sunshine
astride the far bank a young doe
hesitates for a moment
to eye us warily, spindly legs
on tremulous alert, nostrils flared,
before bounding off apace
through the swamp grove
we, the intruders,
paddle ahead quietly
feathering oars with great care
to mask the ripples
of our trespass

• Wambaw Creek is located in the Santee River delta in South Carolina.