Last week we flew from Minneapolis to Orlando. After a conference we drove to the Everglades and stayed with friends at the Everglades Spa and Lodge. What a relief from winter here, back home. Upon landing and pulling up to the gate, the captain said, "You might want to put on a coat. It's 8 below on the jetway." Reality sets in. But there is a memory . . .
Everglade Winter
Everglade weather in winter
and perfect sight
brilliant where color of flora
and fauna song calling
meet with grand appetite
to compete with each other.
Variety to match the many legs
of mangrove and egrets
still reflection
with the exception
of eye, nostril and bumps
floating, sunning or waiting for lunch.
Mud, grass and brackish swirl as the tide.
Swamplands give way to dense wood
green waves and vine bush
hiding more wildlife—
unseen and some near.
What wildcat? Raccoon.
And a deer’s leap only heard as we pass.
Long islands on a sea of sawgrass
with the flow
from Ochechobee
Vistas also spotted by an archipelago
of cabbage palms and palmetto
each matched by a patch of sky white.
An echo-song calling
‘cross colors and water—
A memory repeating
as we are retreating.
Once conquered by weather
We relax in the note of this song
in the season when
Everglade winter sets in.
