Whatever Works While It Works

These poems are mangrove networks
Of pneumatophores, breathing
From the roots above the waves.

No, not so complex. Tussocks,
More like, in Arctic tundra,
Unstable clumps of sedge grass.

The tussocks are giving way,
Tundra getting shrubbier.
If only we could be spruce.

That’s not how it works for poems.
The climate and landscapes change,
The animal networks change,

And the poems spread or retreat,
Adapting a little, but
Mostly pushing and shoving

Other kinds of poems around,
Shifting to follow water
Or warmth by generations.

These poems are elephants feet,
Ugly rosettes in the grass,
Dandelions and plantains,

Keeping low to avoid teeth,
Blades, and fires, while shoving leaves
To wedge against fast, tall grass.