In the dogs days of a Florida summer, it is fun to look back at this past Fort Myers Beach Winter.
In southern Florida, we don't experience cold fronts, but rather "cool fronts".
As the night gathers dust, the temperatures fall into the low 50's and the air is chilly when I awaken. I turn the heat on while I shower and dress myself in a pin striped pantsuit for work. My husband places a shawl around me before I step out of the door. When I step out of my offce door at ten o'clock to indulge in my first cigarette of the day, I find the sun shining brightly and the warmth of the Florida sun has caused the temperatures to rise to nearly 70. At lunch, I write a poem:
GODDESS OF THE SUN
February cool fronts blow in
and out of a Florida island,
The women wear sweaters
Over their bikinis
All except Diana
She wears a leather jacket
Black as a hurricaine sky
Smooth as Santana,
Discards it in the sand
Discards her blanket and lover too
As the temperature rises just past noon,
All to run after a boy with a lighter
"Smokers are a dying breed,"
I hear the echo of her tropical giggle
She follows the boy into a beach bar
While another cool front drifts into town,
I scoop up her discarded jacket
Ease my way onto her blanket and light up
The cigarette of Diana's bronzed man
With my jaded green lighter
We contemplate the forest green ocean
For a long sultry second,
Sufficient time for him
To fall for my siren's song:
We drive to Miami for dinner.
Comments(3)