American Queen

Killdeer scurry across the mudflats.

Snowy egret stands unmoved.

American Queen,

That syncopated maiden,

Floats by as if on feathers,

Her wake in rhapsody

With the silky current.

The low, deep

Swoosh

Swoosh

Swoosh

Of her paddlewheel

Softens the steady, straining

Continuo,

Those barely heard groans

Of the paddle engine’s gears.