At a fruit stand in the Everglades, Faustus
Orders a papaya-mango milkshake
That he drinks through an oversized straw.
The parking lot is full, and covers of
Jimmy Buffett songs twang from speakers
On a flatbed truck. Across the road, fields
Have been cleared for construction, and blocks
Of townhouses have replaced the tomatoes
And strawberries. For some reason, Mephistopheles
Wants to see alligators, and there’s a farm nearby
With hundreds of them. Faustus is uninterested
In reptiles, especially ones who go months
Between meals and spend most of their time
In the mud. So, he waits at the farm stand, staring
At unusual fruits and bags of arugula. Families
Of tourists from Asia and Northern Europe
Queue up to get their own milkshakes. The parents
Favor key lime, the children chocolate. Faustus
Wanders to some enclosures in back where goats and
Emus search the dust for food pellets, and roosters
Ignore the legs and sneakers of tourists. Mephistopheles
Has returned, appearing from behind a bin of melons.
He tells Faust how he likes to watch the alligators
Jump in the air to catch frozen rats. The rats
Drip water in the afternoon heat, and the visitors
Are suitably horrified. Someday, M says, the farm
Will close, and the alligators will be left to fend
For themselves. It’s important to enjoy these things
While you can.
Faustus in the Everglades
George Franklin is the author of eight poetry collections, including A Man Made of Stories (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions) and a book of essays, Poetry & Pigeons: Short Essays on Writing. Individual poems have been published in Thimble, Nimrod, Rattle, Gramercy Review, New Ohio Review, and One Art, among others. He practices law in Miami, is a translation editor for Cagibi, teaches poetry classes in Florida prisons, and co-translated, along with the author, Ximena Gómez’s Último día/Last Day.