Living in Florida was generally miserable until the Dog Days
of August, when it became unbearable. Still, nature was glorious.
Here's my list:
10. ALLIGATORS
prehistoric observers
of progress
anachronistic cousins
of the dinosaur
a huge splash
pause
two eyes appear
just above the surface
silent
watching
waiting
watching
9. BEACHES
warm as bath water
sand fine as sugar
sea oats waving in the breeze
come visit
once the sand
gets in your shoes
you always return
8. KUDZU
a summer invasion
it covers everything
barns, telephone poles
cows, dogs
a garden of green sculpture
7. COOL CLEAR WATER
thousands of gallons
bubble up each minute
from springs
blue as a swimming pool
an underground labyrinth of streams
unfolding into subtropical rivers
6.FROGS
frogs??
yes thousands millions...
if Bartok had been a frog
they would have been his green orchestra
atonal, dissonant
dodecaphonic
surround sound
triple encores during a hurricane
and green green green
5. TREES
a cypress maze
in the swamp
a Hobbitland of Spanish moss
hanging like angel hair
from live oaks
six feet across
patient and silent
4. SUNSETS
not just the horizon
but the entire sky
above below behind
reflecting in the water
360 degrees
red gold
scarlet orange
crimson violet
3. SPRINGTIME
azaleas high as the roof
wisteria stretching
a city block
dogwood for decoration
a splash of color
poured from a paint bucket
to the Old South
2. LIGHTNING
that's an understatement!
it's apocalyptic
like the final days
fifty people die each year
in this display
of electrostatic energy
blinding flash and afterimage
continuing for
hours
like a strobe light
don't try to fly a kite
1. THE SOUND
it begins at twilight
a drone as if from the center
of the earth
like a thousand vinas
the primal sound
rising and falling
rich in harmonics
hypnotic
-Paresh
