The pool of death is the same
as the cradle of birth.
Agitated waters do not separate
procreating from dying
only their still bodies do
when they float on the current
wash to the shore
or are caught in drift wood.
I know no greater obstacle course
than yours – penguins come in second.
The Reds mingle with the Kings
and the Silvers through the riffles.
A race to the end:
winner loses all.
You hurl your bodies against and
over rocks, swim upstream,
struggle against fierce currents,
only to try again and again
until your bruised, exhausted bodies
escaped from fishing nets,
seals and bears,
entrust the water
with your final gift:
clusters of translucent beads.
—
Dr. Susann Moeller, Vice President of the Ohio Poetry Association (OPA) and Vice Chancellor of the National Federation of Poetry Societies, is an award winning bi-lingual poet, and editor of the eco-poetry anthologies, Open Earth I, II and III. She loves to write in the “plotting shed” of her garden turned urban wildlife sanctuary, dances in random places, and believes animals are better people.
