abroad before dawn

when the long grey cloud
curved into the far horizon
into the grey promise of light
before the first garden birds
had tried their first light
notes the slugs were already here
for the windfalls, the fallen
apricots of the night

and embracing the fruits
with the lengths of their bodies
they chomped through skin and flesh
choosing only the fruitiest globes
now stained with their slime
and then heavy laden and sated
they slipped slowly away, long grey
ships on a still and silent sea

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gw2010