Through the Everglades
The sun-drenched slough
bobs with the lazy tug of salt water;
thick thumb-sized grasshoppers thump
black and gold across the path
as an egret averts its eyes.
An alligator glides under a spotted gar,
disappears. A swamp apple falls.
The sun sets on the trail.
Clouds explode violet, seethe
across the sky. Crocodiles hiss
through open snouts. A turtle turns
beneath the waves. Flocking water
fowl stutter. Still waters stir
with the eternal ache of appetite,
a splash.