The poem is SEA TURTLE NESTS...

"Sea Turtle Nests" illustration from Nancy Standlee for my "Dreams of the Turtle King" beach poem book.

The poem is SEA TURTLE NESTS and the illustration is for a stanza in the poem ...
 
"Sea Turtle nests
punctuate the beach,
marked by short stakes
and small yellow placards..."

The sea turtles come to lay their eggs along these very popular beaches in  south Florida. Some cities post small yard lights/lanterns along the A1A highway to entice the turtles to come to their beaches. The cities along these beaches take the turtle nesting very seriously, with conservation efforts, ordinances to protect the nests, etc. They mark the nests with wooden stakes and yellow tape and placards to warn people that the nests are protected and to KEEP OUT. It also helps keep the bulldozers (another poem!) from running over the nests.

During egg laying season, you can see dozens of nests along the beaches. It is amazing to me that some turtle barely make it past the lowest tide level while some climb to the top edge of the beach near the tree line. I am not sure what determines where they make their nests, but I know from watching videos it takes an amazing effort to get onto shore and build the nest to lay the eggs.

One of my big regrets from my time in Florida was not making the time to go on the "egg hatching" watches that the cities would hold. You could sign up to go with a guide at night to wait for the eggs to hatch. There was never a guarantee that that night would have hatchings, but there were waiting lists for people who wanted to go. Maybe I'll get a chance to see one in the future!