EILEEN BALAND

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SALAMANDERS

Two blue-tailed salamanders
emerged from the woodpile
on Sunday afternoon
just to show off.

Their neon-blue tails
sent refracted light puffs
bouncing between the twists
and turns of hardwood branches.

Black and brown stripes
surrounded their trunks
like tiny cumber buns,
suggesting a formal affair.

Being God's day off,
He must have had the leisure
and the imagination
for fine details such as these.