By Lauren Johnson

What was Old Florida?

Spine-wreaking work

in sweltering citrus groves?

Or capturing

in self-taught strokes of oil

waves diamonded

by holy sunlight,

undying palm trees

laughing with greenness,

and mangrove-framed rivers

drenched in the borrowed royalty

of an orchid-purple sky?

Lauren Johnson is from Orlando, Florida. Her work has appeared in Living Waters Review and The Sailfish Review. When she is not writing, she enjoys reading retold myths, contemplating the meaning of the universe, and baking bread.