Kelp

        Alone we swim unheeded
        and crawl among the surf
        we pick and glean 
        and stay unseen
        a cre-a-ture of earth
                —

         and perhaps we shall recover         or perhaps it never hurt             it's hard to tell which scars are fresh                   from which are old as dirt         A hero came to slay us,         but we beat her to the throne         the hero got her no reward         and now we're back alone                  headscratched fresh and bloody         new scars inside our cove         a tiny little otter/'pus         rage withinning grow