Primordial Everglades Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

The muddy wooded Everglades
impenetrable ways
feign sleep to boots and careless eyes
in their primordial haze

What hidden secrets lie beneath
this twisted, unkempt marsh;
who can survive a land so bound
in weeds and all things harsh?

It's humid and a grove unfit
but for a wary crew
that slither through dank mossy vines
and choke who would pass through

Beneath impenetrable peat
lie creatures none has seen
but ghosts of old Tequesta chiefs
still conjure in their dreams

None yet has found the secret oils
in healing mangrove roots
or cures among infested reeds
and tender healing shoots

And what could a dark stagnant pool
reveal of ancient times
deep in its tangled murky pit
what cruelty, what crimes?

The muddy wooded Everglades
impenetrable ways
feign sleep to boots and careless eyes
in their primordial haze.