inbreeding the clipper

an osprey appeared in the mist
a falling meteorite into the harbor
almost unseen.
another soared twisting turning
outmaneuvering five crows giving chase.
a third skimmed to me
and became a beetle as it landed on my hand
large pincers for piercing fruit
eyes blood red and large for walking in dark shadows
serrated fangs for injecting venom
long antennae curled into smoke
reaching in my nose and oozing out my ears.
i put it in my mouth chewed and swallowed
so my children leave faint traces of its indigo exoskeleton
with each footstep

from swann park at sunrise
(designs adapted from the baltimore clipper were used to build slave-trade ships in the mid-19th century)

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