Everglades 2020

God holds my baby by her ankle

Dangles her from a cloud.

She is a thickened fawn

Contorting in his grip

Taut and winding over the scrubby trees below.

My baby came to me from the forest.

As she fell I think I caught her.

Yes, I caught her as she fell

Through the pines

And low-lying fever palm.

Dusk settled like a fog around our ankles.

God let go and I caught her.

A door opened in the forest ceiling.

She pushed it aside easily

All round arms

And brown curls

Still wet from the clouds.

The door crinkled like a brown tarp

In the wind.

She hovered there for a moment

Then her wings failed

And I dove.

We stand here now, darkness up to our chins.

I’m wading through the night forest

With her on my shoulders

Blinking at the starlight.