September 19, 2025 - “On the Marshy Edge” by Henry Hughes

A great blue heron

aims its gold lance.

Stab, flip and tip—

something silvery

slides to the gullet.

Car doors slam.

Startled grawk,

wings yarded,

dragon flapping

over our damp heads

on the city’s

marshy edge,

waiting for a guy

we don’t like

to get us high.

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Henry Hughes grew up in Port Jefferson, New York, and he continues to maintain strong connections to Long Island and New York City. He is the editor of the recent Everyman’s anthologies, River Poems and River Stories, and the author of five collections of poetry, including Sergeant Dark, forthcoming from Lost Horse Press.