I found out the other day
that Shrieking Eucalyptus leaves
can scream in pain,
sounding like scraping steel or porpoises.
I imagine a shadow-eyed nightbear
clinging to the tree’s arcing ribs
and lamprey-******* on a branch,
only to start at the screech
and ***** for a grip in the grease
and plummet Galileo-like
and smash on the ground:
a mass.
Anyone watching would think, with a shudder,
that screaming’s no reason to drop.