Origin Story

Origin Story

In the Year of the Hare I saw in your face
an invasive species of love which said
if this is how you live your life
  perhaps you should live it elsewhere

& so I did

I lived it big
  I lived it elsewhere

I placed my belongings
in a waterproof shell
said goodbye to the Asian carp
the kudzu vines
the bark beetles stripping the coast
of music

I became an invader myself
a pathogen with survival traits

I flooded the Mekong with plum wine

I burned a hole in Shaanxi Province

I opened a small business
delivering small mammals
to the owners of piranhas

& when it went under
I sank to the bottom of Lake Malawi
& rose finned & wealthy

The lake became a pond
became a tank became a bowl

I lived & I lived

For you I did it elsewhere

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