Guarding The Harbor / December 7^th, 1941  

by Ave Jeanne Ventresca


having no plans for the day, sleeping a bit longer seemed the appropriate thing to do.

through my window
only scattered to broken clouds cover skies above Pearl Harbor.

this long, white line of coast, rests in quiet meditation.

thoughts about the shark goddess Ka'ahupahau fill my dreams.

envisioned is a cave entrance where the goddess of protection lives, guarding this harbor from any intruders. now, from a crackling radio, voices stern and whipping

cut through the still morning like a scalpel, no, like a bullet,

loud and force threatening.   and i alter my plans for this day.


* * * * *

Ave Jeanne Ventresca (aka: ave jeanne) is the author of nine chapbooks of poetry that reflect social and environmental concerns. Her most recent collection, Noticing The Colors of Ordinary, was released in the summer of 2019. She edited the acclaimed literary magazine Black Bear Review, and served as publisher of Black Bear Publications for twenty years. Her award winning poetry (contemporary and Asian) has been widely published internationally within commercial and literary magazines, in print and online. Ave Jeanne was nominated for the Pushcart Prize for 2019.