Warm Mineral Springs
A fountain features dancing girls
at Warm Mineral Springs.
Since Coronado discovered these mythic waters,
seekers of youth have bathed here.
Healing waters spray skyward,
flow into the Myakka River, then out to sea.
Sulfur makes water heavy,
swimmers drift like colored leaves.
Coral reefs grow in the deeps
of a bottomless crater.
Ancient gar, with saw-blade teeth,
inhabit the shallows like sharks.
Wrinkled bathers swim with fish and gators.
They coexist in peace into the 60s
when owners fence out the alligators.
In the 70s, a new fountain appears:
brass imps romp in jets of water.
Some ladies in North Port object:
only shameless hussies swim naked.
Their verdict: unseemly & immodest.
A hubbub roars for months,
management refuses to concede.
My grandparents drive me to Warm Mineral Springs.
The old biddies make us laugh, says Nana.
Protestors have sewn a statement:
Each girl wears a yellow skirt,
their modesty is protected.
In August, Nana chuckles on the phone,
That first hurricane was all it took,
the fabric blew away.
Ever since, the fountain cherubs
bask in sunshine and rain.
https://www.amazon.com/Lit-Shark-Magazine-December-January-December/dp/B0CVXVJQ8S
Date Published: December 1, 2023