Photo of Nicholas Hagger dictating the fifth section, 'St Petersburg', of 'American Liberty Quintet', on the plane home from the US, 30.7.1993

Extract from ‘American Liberty Quintet’,
Collected Poems, p.707

The dolphins in Dolphin Bay
Curve up a fin, then dive;
Stone-like ibis – alive.
On a pole sits a rare osprey.
Here there are rare manatees,
Orange-throat cormorants fish,
Brown pelicans grin and dive,
Terns sit on their heads and wish.
Feel the jerk of the parasail, then
Dance on the wind above
And think, who would not love
To be a US citizen?