OCTOPUS

By Leonora O'Brien

Full of heart, of brain

Of courage, we flow

At deeper currents.

Creeping from crevice

Dens, our wide-field lens

high-tuned for motion.

Pursued by dark-willed

Predators, we brace!

Shark strikes! Dismembered

White stump smokes and stinks.

Hunted, we hide in

Shadowy shelters.

Suckers spiralling,

Wrapping and reaching.

Escape is our art.

Alone, teacherless.

Lending sand from floors,

Blending to nothing.

Spawning in masses,

Selflessly feeding —

We starve for our young,

Who float, unattached,

Mourning ghost mothers,

Defeating the odds.

#darkpoetsclub