Copyright © All rights reserved.

Anne is an award winning poet. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. She is a member of the Florida State Poets Association, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies Inc., the Florida Historical Society, and the Space Coast Writers’ Guild.

Southern Roses

Roses grown all over the world

     Can be found

In Southern gardens, being fussed

     Over, carefully tended;

Or growing wild,

     Willy nilly, over broken

Fences in neglected gardens,

     Prickly thorns protecting

Blushing blossoms.

Those same roses,

     Hardy of stock with

Fragrance so sweet,

     Grew in my great grandmother’s

Garden, my grandmother’s and

     Mother’s, and prized for

Generations.

Now, as part of my heritage,

     I am the guardian of

The exquisite blossoms;

     Tenderly caring

For the plants;

     Cheerfully giving cuttings

To all seeking the legacy,

      The Southern rose.

“Love planted a rose

And the world turned sweet -”

Katherine Lee Bates (1859 - 1929)

Mosquito Beaters

Long ago, Cocoa just a dot on map,

     The beach, a haven;

Watching it grow,

     Newcomers settling in,

Speedy had a vision in 1986 -

     Keeping friendships,

Memories alive;

     Annual gathering,

Naming it Mosquito Beaters,

     By acclamation, after palmetto

Switches used to brush off mosquitos.

     Grew from just a few who

Enjoyed reminiscing the olden days;

     To inclusion of many,

Meeting second Friday night and

     Most of Saturday every March.

Studies have not been made,

     Polls not taken;

But a sure bet,

     No other town or city

Has undertaken such a successful

     Project.

Year after year, after attending

     Mosquito Beaters, out-of-town

House guests gather ‘round my table,

     Feasting on ham, black-eyed peas,

Potato salad, cornbread;

     Goblets of wind sparkling like

Crystal stars in dark velvet sky

     Now littered with artificial lights;

Reading, absorbing every word

     Mosquito Beater Magazine,

Still talking, reminiscing,

     Dreading the thought of parting -

Until next year!