The Sorry Nickel

still in my veins

the pulse of ancient seas

my kinship

with the lobe-finned fishes

        and with you

the eyes

of the lowland gorilla

cradling

her stillborn infant—

the ache in my womb

            

elephants—

25, 000 a year

dipped in blood

so many ivory icons

of the crucifixion

Ganesha,

remover of obstacles

up on a pedestal

surrounded by coins—

I add a sorry nickel

Atlas Poetica 14, March 2013