Catfish
It nuzzles oblivion, confuses
itself with mud. A creature
of familiar taste, it ambushes
from its nest of ooze the pond's
brighter fish, clears its palate
with their eggs, lumbers fat
and stagnant into winter, lulled
into dreams of light sinking until
light drowns, and all is as before.
Copyright Credit: Claudia Emerson, "Catfish" from Secure the Shadow. Copyright © 2012 by Claudia Emerson. Reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press.
Source: Secure the Shadow (Louisiana State University Press, 2012)