Bryan Rickert

Treasures

Daniel Montbars, fresh from the Royal French Navy, would soon be known as Montbars the Exterminator. Known only for his love of Spanish blood and gold. Driven by his hatred for Spain, The Exterminator toppled forts, sunk ships, burned settlements, and left no Spanish man alive. He was said to cut open the bellies of prisoners, nail one end of their intestines to a post, and make them dance to their death while beating them with a burning piece of wood. At some point before his last voyage in 1707, Montbars and his men came ashore on a small island. Finding a beach that was impossible to reach through the thicket and steep hillsides, they buried a large portion of their gold. Never to return.

Today, I drive down the steep zig-zag road in a small rental and back into one of the last spots in the cramped little lot. The family puts on sunblock, inflates the floaty, and we walk to our favorite spot on Anse du Gouverneur. Our favorite little beach in the French West Indies. As the children laugh and play, their mother takes pictures and I stare out into the horizon and see nothing. No echoes of those days remain. Just sand dollars and the endless crash of waves.

island time
the castles that come 
and go

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About the Author

Bryan Rickert lives in Belleville, Illinois. He is the editor at The Living Senryu Anthology. His first book of haiku, Fish Kite, is available through Cyberwit Publishing.