Local Encounter

Reclining in the orange and white lounger by the sea
daydreaming, dozing, doing nothing important at dusk,
I felt someone watching me.
A hard stare.
Calculating.
Dense sea shrubs rustled.
Swinging my legs to one side,
my toes planted in sand, debating
stand and greet or run and hide.
Then he made his move. Through green bushes,
an apple between his teeth, skin older
than Earth’s crust, almond eyes a muted
olive color. Sharp toenails spewing sand,
the iguana barely glanced at me as he cruised
to the tree, confident he ruled the world.

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Molly Mayhead is Professor Emerita of Communication Studies at Western Oregon University, where she taught for 31 years before retiring in 2019. She began studying and writing poetry in 2023 after an accident impacted her mobility. She lives with her husband on a 5-acre tree farm in the foothills of the Oregon Coastal Range.