SoFloPoJo
  • Maureen Seaton
  • Poetry #30 AUG '23
  • FLASH #30 AUG '23
  • JUST SAY GAY
  • Calendar
  • Contributors
    • Contributors 2016-19
  • Essays
  • Interviews
    • Interviews 2020-21
    • Interviews 2016-19
  • Reviews
    • Reviews 2020-21
    • Reviews 2016-19
  • Special Section
    • A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTH FLORIDA POETRY
    • Adam Day
    • Album of Fences
    • Broadsides
    • Favorite Poems
    • Follow the Dancer
    • In Memoriam, John Arndt
    • Hargitai Humanism and
    • Kiss & Tell
    • Lennon McCartney
    • Neighborhood of Make-Believe
    • PBPF Ekphrastic Contest
    • Paradise
    • Rystar
    • Surfside
    • Visit to the Rio Grande
    • WHAT FICTION ARE YOU READING?
    • SNAPS
    • SoFloPoJo Nominations >
      • Best of the Net Nominations
  • Video
    • Florida Center for the Book
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR Interviews
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR POEMS
    • Palm Beach Poetry Festival
    • SFPJ Video
  • Visual Arts
    • Visual Arts 2020-21
    • Visual Arts 2016-19
  • Archives
    • Poetry #29 MAY '23
    • FLASH #29 May '23
    • Poetry #28 Feb '23
    • Flash #28 Feb '23
    • Poetry #27 - NOV 22
    • FLASH #27 - Nov 22
    • POETRY #26 - AUG 22
    • FLASH #26 - AUG 22
    • POETRY #25 - May 22
    • FLASH #25 - May 22
    • POETRY #24 - Feb 22
    • FLASH #24 - FEB 22
    • POETRY #23 - NOV 21
    • FLASH #23 - NOV 21
    • ISSUE 22 POETRY AUG 21 >
      • ISSUE 22 POETRY PG 2 AUG 21
    • ISSUE 22 FLASH AUG 21
    • ISSUE 21 POETRY MAY 2021
    • ISSUE 21 FLASH May 2021
    • ISSUE 20 FEB 2021
    • ISSUE 19 NOV 2020
    • ISSUE 18 AUG 2020
    • Issue 18 Pt. 2 of AUG 2020
    • ISSUE 17 MAY 2020
    • ISSUE 16 FEB 2020
    • ISSUE 15 NOV 2019
    • ISSUE 14 AUG 2019
    • ISSUE 13 MAY 2019
    • ISSUE 12 FEB 2019
    • ISSUE 11 NOV 2018
    • ISSUE 10 AUG 2018
    • ISSUE 9 MAY 2018
    • ISSUE 8 FEB 2018
    • ISSUE 7 NOV 2017
    • ISSUE 6 AUG 2017
    • ISSUE 5 MAY 2017
    • ISSUE 4 FEB 2017 >
      • Kostelanetz Visual Poem
    • ISSUE 3 NOV 2016
    • ISSUE 2 AUG 2016
    • ISSUE 1 MAY 2016
  • MASTHEAD
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Tip Jar
  • WITCHERY
  • Anthology Contributors
  • ANTHOLOGY OF FLORIDA POETS
  • Maureen Seaton
  • Poetry #30 AUG '23
  • FLASH #30 AUG '23
  • JUST SAY GAY
  • Calendar
  • Contributors
    • Contributors 2016-19
  • Essays
  • Interviews
    • Interviews 2020-21
    • Interviews 2016-19
  • Reviews
    • Reviews 2020-21
    • Reviews 2016-19
  • Special Section
    • A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTH FLORIDA POETRY
    • Adam Day
    • Album of Fences
    • Broadsides
    • Favorite Poems
    • Follow the Dancer
    • In Memoriam, John Arndt
    • Hargitai Humanism and
    • Kiss & Tell
    • Lennon McCartney
    • Neighborhood of Make-Believe
    • PBPF Ekphrastic Contest
    • Paradise
    • Rystar
    • Surfside
    • Visit to the Rio Grande
    • WHAT FICTION ARE YOU READING?
    • SNAPS
    • SoFloPoJo Nominations >
      • Best of the Net Nominations
  • Video
    • Florida Center for the Book
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR Interviews
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR POEMS
    • Palm Beach Poetry Festival
    • SFPJ Video
  • Visual Arts
    • Visual Arts 2020-21
    • Visual Arts 2016-19
  • Archives
    • Poetry #29 MAY '23
    • FLASH #29 May '23
    • Poetry #28 Feb '23
    • Flash #28 Feb '23
    • Poetry #27 - NOV 22
    • FLASH #27 - Nov 22
    • POETRY #26 - AUG 22
    • FLASH #26 - AUG 22
    • POETRY #25 - May 22
    • FLASH #25 - May 22
    • POETRY #24 - Feb 22
    • FLASH #24 - FEB 22
    • POETRY #23 - NOV 21
    • FLASH #23 - NOV 21
    • ISSUE 22 POETRY AUG 21 >
      • ISSUE 22 POETRY PG 2 AUG 21
    • ISSUE 22 FLASH AUG 21
    • ISSUE 21 POETRY MAY 2021
    • ISSUE 21 FLASH May 2021
    • ISSUE 20 FEB 2021
    • ISSUE 19 NOV 2020
    • ISSUE 18 AUG 2020
    • Issue 18 Pt. 2 of AUG 2020
    • ISSUE 17 MAY 2020
    • ISSUE 16 FEB 2020
    • ISSUE 15 NOV 2019
    • ISSUE 14 AUG 2019
    • ISSUE 13 MAY 2019
    • ISSUE 12 FEB 2019
    • ISSUE 11 NOV 2018
    • ISSUE 10 AUG 2018
    • ISSUE 9 MAY 2018
    • ISSUE 8 FEB 2018
    • ISSUE 7 NOV 2017
    • ISSUE 6 AUG 2017
    • ISSUE 5 MAY 2017
    • ISSUE 4 FEB 2017 >
      • Kostelanetz Visual Poem
    • ISSUE 3 NOV 2016
    • ISSUE 2 AUG 2016
    • ISSUE 1 MAY 2016
  • MASTHEAD
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Tip Jar
  • WITCHERY
  • Anthology Contributors
  • ANTHOLOGY OF FLORIDA POETS
  SoFloPoJo
Sidney Wade     Gainesville      (Sarah Carey)
Beatrice Rising

When I lived in Florida, I grew large.
It all grows large, in Florida--
the elephant ears, the cannas,
mangoes large as melons,
and the melons like Mars.
My heart ached in Florida,
large and round and stubborn,
like the moon hanging heavy
and red in the laurel oaks. My head
grew large, my eyes so large
I could see from coast to coast,
the brilliant, lonely sands,
the abrasive, shining waters.
And all those tiny houses,
hardly asleep in the night,
filled with tender nightmare
and uncontrollable desire.
And then my arms, yes my arms
grew large and began to rise
without effort, through the heavy
green night, little rivulets
of moisture slipping down my sides,
and my body too slipped slowly 
from its tether, rose inch by inch
till my thighs, my knees, my calves
and ankles trickled free of the moss,
of its spidery hold. And yet
something seemed to be holding me back--
as I spun slow in the night sky
I saw with my wonderful eyes
that my heart was tangled,
ever so gently, in the feathery
ribs of the darkly draped trees.