​Fabian's World

By Mike Sonksen

 Fabian from the Miccosukee tribe
pilots the air boat through the Everglades
taking turns like a skater in a half pipe
 
Water sprays up sawgrass & yellow calla lilies
in the vast labyrinth of swampland
 
Fabian nonchalantly tells stories of alligators,
water moccasins, raccoons & wading birds
 
Comfortable with gators, he circles the boat
back to feed snacks to every alligator he sees
 
A native of the Everglades, born on Tear Island,
Buffalo Tiger was their tribe’s last traditional chief
 
One with the ecosystem, Fabian is the Everglades,
centered in the sawgrass prairie,
“welcome to my world,” he tells me
 

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Mike Sonksen aka Mike the PoeT is a 3rd-generation Los Angeles native. His prose and poetry have been published on banners on Santa Monica and Venice Boulevards and included in programs with the Mayor’s Office, the Los Angeles Public Library’s “Made in LA,” series, Grand Park, the Music Center, the Friends of the Los Angeles River and Glendale Central Library. On three separate occasions, the City of Los Angeles has awarded Sonksen “Certificates of Commendation” for his poetic contributions to the city. Sonksen teaches at Woodbury University.