Postcard II: Palmetto and Pine

by James Brock

Larry:
Wasn’t scrub once a word for money? And
Florida thick with scrub: palmetto
and slash pine, as hardscrabble as any
Joshua Tree, and with the plainest qualities:
robust against infestation, only wanting
fire to regenerate, good enough for
pioneers and saints, for your attention. J.


James Brock’s fourth book of poetry, Gods & Money, will be published by WordTech Editions in 2010. For his poetry, he has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Alex Haley Foundation. He teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.