The Croaker Hole

 

The Croaker Hole tormented me

They said it was right where the smaller river joined the St. Johns

And I could see it from my kitchen window

They said it was a cold, clear spring boiling up

under the warm tea-stained, sluggish waters of the broad St. Johns

 

 

 

 

They said it was full of striped bass, giant catfish and blue crabs

They said I could go there

If I had the faith to dive through

Fifteen feet of alligator-infested warm tea

 

 

But I had seen the gators’

Cold eyes at night reflected back in the beam of my flashlight

And the game warden had warned me about

Shorty, a one-eyed gator, thirteen feet long,

and spoiled by neighbors who fed him chicken carcasses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But if I had the faith to dive through

The dark water

I would suddenly come to a vast

Underwater alien world

Full of wonders

 

 

 

 

If I had the faith

 

The Croaker Hole tormented me

Because I did not have the faith

And I knew I never would