A Cave of Angelfish
Huddle Against the Moon
Put an ear to the
light at fall 
of dark and you will
hear 
nothing. This pale
luminescence 
that drifts in upon
them 
makes a blue bole of
their caves, 
a scare of their
scything 
tails. They tell 
in the bubbling dark
of images 
that come in upon
them 
when light spreads
like an oil slick 
and sea fans 
that once were their
refuge 
turn away. 
Now there is no dark 
dark enough for their
silver tails, 
scatter of color 
(like coins massively
piling in the lap of
a miser) 
that was, in the day,
their pride. 
How hugely here we
belong. 
This is their song 
in the silting 
drift of the reef. 
They have never seen
the moon 
nor the black scut of
night, stars 
spread like plankton 
in their beastly
infinities.
Ron De Maris
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