In summer, there was a bloom of tadpoles
in the bathtub against the pasture fence,
the sludge at the bottom of the cracked trough
seething with bodies the size of my nails.
I hauled out the old fish tank, dumping net
after net full into the dark water,
until I had dredged up every last one.
I watched them teeming against the glass while
the cicadas’ keening ratcheted up,
then poured them all back. But it was too late;
not a single one lived, smothered beneath
the press. In love with the glisten, they pour
until they trip over their vestigial tail,
enthusiasm trumping better sense.
Dec 16, 2015
Dec 16, 2015 at 7:28 PM UTC
In summer, there was a bloom of tadpoles
in the bathtub against the pasture fence,
the sludge at the bottom of the cracked trough
seething with bodies the size of my nails.
I hauled out the old fish tank, dumping net
after net full into the dark water,
until I had dredged up every last one.
I watched them teeming against the glass while
the cicadas’ keening ratcheted up,
then poured them all back. But it was too late;
not a single one lived, smothered beneath
the press. In love with the glisten, they pour
until they trip over their vestigial tail,
enthusiasm trumping better sense.
