Waterspout!

Waterspout!

I once saw a waterspout safely from shore
On my sub-tropic isle only one mile wide
As I stood near a house with a small crawl space
For to crawl underneath if I needed to hide

Under the cloud that the siphon was feeding
I watched as its ball of spray crossed the sea
A roar of spray about ten meters high
As the spout snaked along, I hoped not to me

Creeping along past my rockbound shore
T’wards Little Cayman some five miles away
The wind blew away the noise of the spout
Though I strained hard to hear that significant day

But clearly I saw the great spire of water
Spiraling, joining the sea and the cloud
And then the phenomenon hard to believe
“There’s a coilspring within the first coil!” I allowed

For as well as a left-handed helix I saw
Another, right-handed, a counter spire
More water rising? I didn’t know
Just that a clear double coil I espied

A true double helix but not DNA
A giant waterspout near the spot where I stood
Transfixed by the scene but sparing a glance
For the stout little house with its posts of ironwood

In the wild I have seen a Whitetail delivering,
Wolverine, Timber Wolf, Giant Sea Fan
Pacific Dolphin, Blue Bird of Paradise
And concentrical spouts in the isles called Cayman

Waterspout occurred on the north side of Cayman Brac

Full disclosure – the photo doesn’t depict the one
in the poem. No camera was on hand. But both occurred
just offshore on the north side of Cayman Brac.

jwp

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