Member Poem

I travel around St. Augustine with mannequins,
they wear novelty shirts like “UF GATORS” and “SALT LIFE”
to embody the state of 'Floridian.'

I take them to the Fountain of Youth, pour sulfur fountains into
their vacant casks, as much as they can hold.

We slug along salted inlet, past Castillo,
I read to them how Spain relinquished
Florida to the United States in 1821—
the government’s call for the removal of all Seminoles
to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River—
Castillo de San Marcos becomes a prison
for Natives who once fought beside the founding Spaniards—

I drag them to the lighthouse
then I prop cigarettes and minis of Jack Daniels
on their mouths so they can feel
some spark again,
I point out orange crabs
skittering like spiders across sand,
they let the ashes of cigarettes get too long,

I say, “Isn’t this living?”