Sea Creatures in Glass, Harvard Natural History Museum
An octopus, shiny,
as if drenched in ocean brine–
looks at me from a vertical glass case,
once a fiery ball
formed into a giant bead of glass,
pulled and bent, constructed quickly
into 8 arms–lifting, dancing
silent.
Next to octopus, sea anemone–
floating, still, tiny periwinkle fingers,
a crown, circling round,
caught in mid-sway.
So quiet, this room of glass–
jelly fish, sea slugs
iridescent orange blue pink
only sound waves of fluorescent light.
4 thoughts on "Sea Creatures in Glass, Harvard Natural History Museum"
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Love the waves of fluorescent light! Beautiful imagery. 🙂
Wonderful ekphrastic! You “paint” such exquisite creatures, I was drawn to search for the images. Wow!
You might send the museum your poem. . . . it would be a delightful inclusion in the exhibit.
Thank you! The sea slugs were cool, but even too hard for this poet to describe! I think I will send it. You can go on-line to their natural history website and see them and there are glass flowers too!!!!!
Shew that last stanza really strikes me! I love “So quiet, this room of glass–”