Lobelia: Lobelia glandulosa
In bright sunlight
this small spot of color
blue—arrests me
brings me to my knees
in complex grasses—
lavender lips
gland-tipped teeth
narcotic sap.
Earlier I saw a picture
said to myself
When I see this one
I will know it.
I press the hard-edged stem,
its slightly sticky fur.
Some old untamed attraction stirs.
Anne McCrary Sullivan is a Florida Master Naturalist, an avid canoeist, and author of three books about the Everglades: Ecology II: Throat Song from the Everglades, poems; Paddling the Everglades Wilderness Waterway, a guidebook; and most recently The Everglades: Stories of Grit and Spirit from the Mangrove Wilderness, narratives constructed from oral histories. Read more.
“Lobelia: Lobelia glandulosa” has been previously published in Ecology II: Throat Song from the Everglades (2009, WordTech Editions).