Amorous Alligators

Prom Night

Amorous alligators awaken to red-rimmed skies.
Sun going down, they bellow bellicose greetings
across the swamp.

Looking for some action,
a dominant male slaps silent water with his jaw.
Lesser males leave the pond to seek action elsewhere.
They wander through subdivisions.

Amorous alligators arrive on decks and porches; they catch 
the sun on sidewalks and bask beneath lawn sprinklers.
They give a new meaning to an old country song,
“Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.”

One should not fool with amorous alligators high on hormones.
Watchful wildlife officers arrive to relocate them
and restrict the movements of amorous alligators.

I photographed the Alligator at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge with 35mm color slide film and later had the image digitized. The poem “Prom Night” was originally titled “Amorous Alligators.” I wrote it after reading a news item about courting alligators.