Local resident pens a poem about the island he loves

Local resident pens a poem about the island he loves

Innerarity Island resident Dennis Profitt shares a picture (above) of the sun rising over Perdido Bay from the causeway leaving the island that inspired him to compose the poem below. Dennis and his wife Carrie lived on Perdido Key for seven years before moving to Innerarity Island last July. “It was the freshness of the sights and sounds that inspired the poem,’’ he said.

Innerarity Island

The bay breeze makes the saw palmetto sway.
Like greetings from a friendly neighbor’s wave.
Life here is slower in its movement and style.
Golf cart cruises and evening walks on the isle.
A bastion of freedom, independence and hope.
From Tarpon and Red Cedar to the rise up the slope.
North Shore and Innerarity comprise most of the paths,
along the wooded island’s northern and southern halves.
Perdido Bay washes along the northern shoreline.
To the south, Russell Bayou and the beach condo skyline.
Shaded by oak trees, magnolias and pines.
Squirrels fuss, scamper, hide acorns and climb.
The blue jays vociferous, the frogs with their song.
All creatures call out from whence they belong.
The thrasher scatters leaves, forages and calls; underneath brush and beautyberry flush in the fall.
Locusts with the melodic rhythm they create.
The woodpecker’s percussion reverberates.
A marriage of ruggedness, saltwater and sand.
Tank tops and flip-flops the cultural brand.
It’s easy to startle a lovely grazing deer,
or one of the many foxes that roam here.
Otters that bound across the road just to go,
from intracoastal to bay for variety in flow.
Those blessed and grateful for another sunny day,
are the island-dwellers, Russell Bayou to the bay.