Poetry

Zebra Mussel

native                                              invader

                                  brackish water

Black Sea                                               British shores

inhalant siphon                                 dissolved nutrients    

autotrophic algae

feeds on                                        

  propagation        of selves     

                                                                smother native species

Danube Delta

branches out

fingers extended

fight the current                                 foot firmly fixed    on far-away lands

byssus threads grip

hard homely substrate                    ignomic settler

through the Bosphorus strait

on boats’ undersides

among warning signs

                            clandestine passengers

                                                            clog waterways

                            hearts beat their way

                                                            through pipes

                            intricate map of pulses

                            a myriad of organisms aimlessly seep through

shell hinge open

umbo inflates  mantle rises

exhalent siphon

exhale               catch our breadth

                            upon landing

through contorted concoctions of anthropo-systems

veligers settle

                              on surfaces

culled                 home

Veronica Fibisan