Wherever you go in Florida , you’ll cross paths with an anole. Especially taken with the little lizards are newly transplanted homeowners, thrilled by the prospect of spending balmy, exotic lives where palm trees drop coconuts on cars, and the little reptiles perch on rocks, translucent crimson dewlaps flashing territorially in the endless summer. They eat ants and crickets and can be kept as pets… but why bother? They’re just as much fun peering at you through your kitchen window or hanging from a fern on the porch. Perhaps because of the housing boom, a rather lot of the little beasts are suicidal, running directly under your feet as you pass. Hopping from one foot to the other to avoid them does no good. They have an uncanny knack for finding the Shoe Of Doom. Suicide by bicycle is also a trend. One day, halfway to the beach on my motorcycle, I looked down and saw one perched on the handlebar, face to the wind, like a dog in a pickup, master of all it surveyed. I was enjoying its ...
Sad, but, in the way of many sad things, so beautiful, Joe.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see this other side of you, Joe.
ReplyDeleteAgree with Candace - sad but beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think I need to come back and read it a few more times.
ReplyDeleteJust came back to read this again and the picture really adds impact. Wow.
ReplyDeleteI wish I didn't understand those words.
ReplyDeleteSad, but beautifully written.
ReplyDeletehaunting.
ReplyDelete(thanks for visiting my blog; it led me to yours. i love your prose and your poetry.)
Coly How, Joe. That is so beautiful. When I got to the end, the first thing I thought of saying to you was, "That is so sad." And reading the comments of the others who say it, all I can do is throw mine on the pile. I love what justjock says about the wishing we didn't know what those words mean.
ReplyDeleteGet a publisher!
ReplyDeleteGeez, this stuff is great.
I will be back here again.
Don't you find you meet the most interesting people on Blogger?
Take care Joe~!
Keep writing.....