~ An Hour With You~

Everglades

Deep in the heart of the Everglades a mockingbird trills it's song-
A gator slumbers in the shade, where a bobcat ambles along.
A panther stalking a Key deer, pauses and lifts her head-and
Catches the scent of man--too near-which fills the old cat with dread.

A whooping crane--it's insane laugh, chills your body to the bone---
While the loon-it's wailing mournful call will make you feel so alone.
In this dark, forbidding place, full of creatures of the night-
The sounds and shadows fully trace the "monsters" that give you fright.

Still-with the eerie light that glows in the densest swamp and bog--
You can see the garden of Eden thru' the misty swampland fog.
This glades--This dark and dismal swamp-abounds with living things--
Cypress knees, orchids in trees, and the buzz of hummingbird wings.

Hibiscus that look for sun spots, Frangipani that scents the air,
Bougainvillea, Oleander, and Peridots-Poinciana perfume-so rare.
This---God's Temple Reservation-This bog of Cypress trees--
And the Master's Congregation? Well-the animals that it frees.

Should you go south for the winter, and should you walk on Glades sod-
Look up-watch the Sun's rays splinter-Reach up --
And touch ---the hand of God.
Godspeed, Billy

Betty Daniels©
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