The neighborhood used to be a beach.<\/p>\n
The streets run with clipped grass and trash<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
and potting soil when it rains\u2014<\/p>\n
a network of temporary rivers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The landfill passes for real land most of the time<\/p>\n
but fat Floridian storms bring up the truth<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
about the sea level and a neighborhood built<\/p>\n
for families growing faster than the city.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The trees were planted to hold the ground.<\/p>\n
The coastal forms are highly tolerant of salt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The place is big and cold, with stiff rooms<\/p>\n
for a quiet mother and two sisters living<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
in too much house, the space that\u2019s left<\/p>\n
from a bigger family. The father is dead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rain pulls ferns in through the cracks<\/p>\n
in the white stucco. The kitchen blooms<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
while exhausted pool floats fill with water<\/p>\n
and then with tadpoles. The hammock grows<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
green mold in the crosses of its ropes<\/p>\n
and leaves wet diamonds on their backs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The dog is tied to the stove.<\/p>\n
The heat steams the jalousie slats.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The doors swell too big for their frames<\/p>\n
but the girls never try to leave anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The neighborhood used to be a beach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3309,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[6,931,932],"class_list":["post-3308","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-aquifer-the-florida-review-online","tag-cocoplum","tag-mary-block"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n