Florid ideas, once up sun a pine...

reading for comp exams, i'm struck by how many poets have been inspired by the lush of the land we call Florida--our imaginations now to be glopped and lopped with loss.

here's one i happen to be reading right now by louise gluck, the tone of which seems right...

TO FLORIDA

Southward floated over
The vicious little houses, down
The land. Past Carolina, where
The bloom began
Beneath their throbbing clouds, they fed us
Coldcuts, free. We had our choice.
Below, the seasons twist; years
Roll backward toward the can
Like film, and the mistake appears,
To scale, soundlessly. The signs
Light up. Across the aisle
An old man twitches in his sleep. His mind
Will firm in time. His health
Will meet him at the terminal.