With Sheepheads off the California Coast
Rent from DeepDyve- With Sheepheads off the California Coast
The smaller pink oneis a female. She's watchingthe males—
teeth in their opened jaws.
The alpha maleis longest. He too was bornfemale.
With his red eyes she's watching.
We're watchingher. She's not here
to mate. A strong female isto translateher ovaries to testes.
He's fighting for his sperm. She's learningthe moves.
Pry a shell off a lava rock. Sway
with the kelp.With humanlike teeth
he crushes shells.He'll be tackledout by summer.
And she, oneof a harem, grows [End Page 34]
red. In a few weeks,overthrow him.
Her thick lips quiver. The kelp
sways. We diveon. In a few weeks,he will broadcast
female larvaein the sand. [End Page 35]
Ravitte Kentwortz is an immigrant to the United States who arrived illegally but gradually naturalized. She studies philosophy in Colorado. Her poems appeared in Bare Life, Posit, Portland Review, MARY, Caliban, and others.
