Nudibranchia by Kathleen Kirk
Long ago we left our shells behind,
diversified our assets.
We’re colorful and transparent.
After mating, our penises break off
and grow back again.
We’re hermaphrodites.
Some of us breathe through a plume
that rings our anus.
We can take your spines and poisons
and use them as our own weapons.
Some of us can roar, some of us can tinkle.
Some of us eat jellyfish for dinner.
Kathleen Kirk (she/her) is the poetry editor for Escape Into Life. Her work appears in a variety of print and online journals, including Snakeskin and Poetry East, and she is the author of eight poetry chapbooks. She doesn’t tweet, but she does have a blog: Wait! I Have a Blog?!