The Water Column

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Dan Campion

The Water Column

 

      In loathsomeness is our salvation, say
      the hagfish. Safety lies in numbers, choirs
      of herring sing. The strategies of prey
      fish must amuse the sharks and gulls, deniers,
      though, themselves, that they are prey to whales
      and eagles, who comport themselves like gods,
      though in the end their credo also fails
      and their equivalent of Homer nods.
      The rockfish, lionfish, and clownfish swim
      toward their redemption from the sea as though
      they shared a faith in coloration, whim,
      and wit. Beneath them, lanternfishes glow
      in clarity above the benthic murk,
      where bottomfish and crabs and tubeworms work.