"Octopus Empire" by Marilyn Nelson

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend Support Poem-a-Day November 20, 2019   Octopus Empire   Marilyn Nelson

What if the submarine is praying for a way it can poison the air, In which some of them have leaped for a few seconds, felt its suffocating rejected buoyancy. Something floats above their known world leading a wake of uncountable death. What if they organized into a rebellion? Now scientists have found a group of octopi who seem to have a sense of community, who live in dwellings made of gathered pebbles and shells, who cooperate, who defend an apparent border. Perhaps they'll have a plan for the planet in a millennium or two. After we're gone.            Copyright © 2019 by Marilyn Nelson. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on November 20, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About this Poem   "Under the gloom cloud of what seems to be the planet's bleak future, for whose bleakness homo so-called sapiens is apparently solely responsible, I happened to see and read an article about the recent discovery in Australia's Jervis Bay of a large number of octopus tetricus which live in community, exhibiting complex social interactions. Playful marine biologists have dubbed the community 'Octlantis.' Reading the article gave me some hope for the planet. I've been trying to break my iambic pentameter habit by writing in syllabics." —Marilyn Nelson   Marilyn Nelson is the co-author, with Father Jacques de Foïard-Brown, of The Baobab Room (Homebound Publications, 2019). She lives in East Haven, Connecticut. Poetry by Nelson   Faster Than Light  LSU Press, 2013 "Song for the Turtles in the Gulf" by Linda Hogan "Characteristics of Life" by Camille T. Dungy "The Sea Is History" by Derek Walcott November Guest Editor: Sherwin Bitsui   Thanks to Sherwin Bitsui, author of Dissolve (Copper Canyon Press, 2018), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Bitsui about his curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. A culture break, a source of daily renewal...   If reading Poem-a-Day has become a meaningful part of your day, please consider supporting this free series with a donation. Your gift makes publishing Poem-a-Day possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit poets.org   Unsubscribe here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

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