Ode to the Octopus

Eight limbs
She’s not simply crawling
She is the Kraken that watches the water
like she’s got eight eyes,
circling her universe
for every lump, every bump, every slit, every crack.

So watch out when she comes
she is the Medusa of the sea
pivoting, sucking on her prey
wrapping enemies into her womb
drowning them in ink so black they’d wonder
if it were only hissing heads of poison.

They think her stupid; her kind’s been here
since the dawn of time,
but her DNA’s barely evolved
no lesson learned; no wisdom passed
How does she even survive?
But they don’t know her secret – brain’s so big
she evolves her RNA
learns everything in a lifetime
the best kind
of smart there is – quicken, hidden, on time.

They say
she lives a lonely, fleeting life
but I once heard that she befriended a man
for two years. She was his toy; he was hers
Everyday he sought her, called her
out from her den. Her limbs
wrapped his arm, suckers smooching his camera.
They both understood
that this was not food,
but friend. I heard when she died,
he cried
like a baby for days; must be what it’s like losing
a best friend.

But what I fear
is how she changes
colors, transforms her entire self
into any slit, any crack, any lump, any bump
Fast learner, gifted actor
show her the most brilliant, horrendous,
brilliantly horrendous; she only needs
to see one to be one
Eight limbs
kiss you like the sweetest lover
then wring you into sea dust.

What is authenticity?
-aren’t we all actors, peeling layers
to find the best version of our mediocre self?

And the biggest secret she holds
in her hearts a love not of one, but three
lifetimes; limbs grow and regrow
so you’ll never fall far; you’re hers,
and she’ll never let go.

Medusa of the sea
She’s the one.