Anaphylaxis scares me in that I sometimes see a reflection.
The Floridaness emits from her, and myself
Who else in my friend group is florida?
Who else in my friend group is florida-massachusetts?
Her Florida intermix with Massachusetts stories
All said in a vague Bostonian,
otherwise neutral voice
Once i hear it i can’t unhear it
Florida-Massachusetts
I’m scared if, like her, I’m turning into a New Englander.
I don’t want to lose my sense of self
but growth occurs in transformation
my fear is the unknown parameters of change
What’s similar?
the Florida-Massachusetts mix,
the eccentricism,
the assholery,
the wetlands,
the same atlantic,
I need air
and I frantically swim toward the surface
How many florida-massachusetts?
-in the stories of my friends who are Massachusetts,
Florida,
and Florida-Massachusetts:
exists a campy bizarreness nurtured under the lying palm “trees”
exists a campy bizarreness nurtured under the sporadic oaks
under sun showers and sweltering humidity
under overcast and depressing humidity.
humidity is a wall,
humidity suffocates.
What of florida do i recall?
every mother gives a sick child gatorade.
you grow gills at the age of 2 1/2.
every one has at least one relative who works at disney world Walt Disney World™.
a rainy spirit of the sunshine state encourages
a vibe
an aura
an ethos
a soul over the budding camp in the dirt
a blistering humor and spicy absurdism that dampens the soil with the spirit’s tears
nurtured and forged and later transplanted to the bizarre bipolar cousin,
the Commonwealth,
by the juxtaposition, the Florida-Massachusetts,
a ghost breaches the surface and takes its breath.