Stowaways
i.
The hagfish that (burrows) into the corpse of a beluga.
ii.
Pearlfish (shelters) in the unmentionable of a sea cucumber.
iii.
Zombie ant fungus (hijacks) the tiny brain and controls it like SimAnt.
iv.
The wrong nutrient runoff (stifles) sea life.
v.
The ruckle of zebra mussels (clutters) the lake floor and clears its surface.
vi.
The one who (wonders) if it isn’t better to be left marooned.
vii.
Mollusks (panel) grates and pipes like femurs and skulls on a catacombs wall.
Dead Zones
Anoxic waters foster microbes
That make waters more anoxic.
They start in far depths
And work their way up.
The smaller fish
Asphyxiate first.
The microbes thrive & multiply.
& multiply & thrive.
S.D. Dillon has an AB from Princeton and an MFA from Notre Dame, where he was Managing Editor of The Bend in 2004. His poetry has appeared recently in Tampa Review, Barstow & Grand, Red Noise Collective, Door = Jar, The Under Review, and Cathexis Northwest Press, and is forthcoming in Wild Roof Journal and Gabby & Min’s Literary Review. He lives in Michigan.
Comments