“Once you are hungry, you will never be full.”
I knew this young and know it again
here in the Indian River Lagoon
where acres of seagrass are wasting away
in water thickened with plankton
feeding on seeping septic fingers
blocking the sunlight with blooming toxins
while we are wondering what has become
of our wide under world prairies
that used to wave beneath our bellies,
away from tourists poking with sticks,
the next one, which, given a chance,
I’ll pound with my elbow (or, I should say, flipper)
and drag to the sea bed with my signature Rock Bottom!
These paparazzi swarm us for pictures
in shallow hazardous waterways
where we graze exposed to fast and furious
boats riding our backs like speed bumps,
leaving us to an ignominious bleed-out.
If I had a little of the clout of Black Adam,
I would incinerate boats with lightning bolts,
laying them out like Stone Cold Steve Austin.
People only love the idea of me,
my adorable bald head, elephantine appeal,
the way it makes them feel
having touched a celebrity,
even as they continue to fertilize their grass.
And, along our coasts, developers deal
hotels that usurp our homes and docks
that grind the rock under their heels.
NOTES
“Once you are hungry…” is a quote by Johnson recalling something that was said to him in his youth that left a lifetime impression.
The Indian River Lagoon habitat is one critical area among many being decimated by various pollutants causing toxic algal blooms (plankton) darkening the water and starving the sea grass fields.
The Florida Manatee are not yet legally protected from tourist harrassment.
The “People’s Elbow” and the “Rock Bottom” are famous slam-attack moves Johnson used through his infamous WWF wrestling career.
Johnson appeared in several of the Fast and Furious movies.
Collisions with speedboats is a significant cause of manatee death. Advocates continue to press for the posting and enforcement of boat speed limits in habitat areas.
Johnson played the superhero Black Adam in the recent DC movie.
Stone Cold Steve Austin was Johnson’s primary nemesis in the WWF world.
Dwayne Johnson is popularly known as “the Rock.”
