Breaking and Entering

It’s the growth plates that cause us harm

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

I entered a school where they shattered
a large, saltwater fish tank,
tattered the rugs with wilted anemones
and blunted sea stars.

It’s the growth plates
that cause us harm,
so we punish beautiful things
in our painful sprint.

For the rest of our lives
we battle waves of yellow pollen,
an air of oppressive reproduction.

It works its way into every crack
and span of tabletop and white knuckle.

We are the playful dolphins
who make diving look easy.

We pick fish from the floor,
bloodless scraps, bits of glass
from sand, water stains that spread
from the center, darken the loss —
their wet passing.

© Trapper Markelz 2021

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