Reading the Tells


Antidepressants in coastal waters are turning shrimp suicidal.
They swim toward bright rays when they should not.

Perhaps their beady eyes suspect something delectable
in the radiance; or perhaps they secretly want a way out.

Regardless, they do not ask, Why me? They do not ponder, Why me?
Their swimmerets send them foraging ahead and ahead they go.

I am depressed about antidepressants depressing others for I too
am drawn toward bright light. I too am a forager and a late bloomer

with less and less elasticity. I seek pleasantries from you and you and you
and wish to survive beyond familiar spoons and chairs.

There is a voice I recognize as mine. To save something.
To feel a dangerous shade of red and then a rushing blankness.

- Leslie Seldin (from Sixth Finch)

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