Swamp Wizard Poem by Barry Middleton

far removed in the Everglades
and well off the beaten track
at a bend in a blackwater creek
stands a swamp wizard's lonely shack

no one knows just why he retreated
to a place where few ever go
to his island beyond the Big Cypress
where the tall black mangroves grow

I have heard he is wise as the ages
and maybe a hundred years old
and he chooses to live in the swampland
but just why is a story untold

some claim his true love died young
others say that he hates all mankind
and some only laugh and nod
and declare he just lost his mind

but few ever call to inquire
as he glares with a foreboding frown
at his bend on that desolate creek
where he waits for the sun to go down