Two Poems

by Zoe Parsons 

Octopi Stimuli  

That’s how it goes: 
tentacles spread and tendrils latch. 
It ebbs and flows. 
Chemical emotion but it’s all  
from within, poison hatches. 

Frills and spots, adornments of every kind.
Facades and warning signs etched  
into evolution. Our amazing 
animal minds glide  
through an underwater galaxy. 
I find peace in the metaphor 
and sit here for a beat. 

Imagine having more sense: 
the world emanates, kaleidoscopic vision
ecstatic, muffled sound and explosions
of touch. Nerves, receptors, cells explain away
dips and curves, 
the boiling bubbling 
spew.

Coral Wind Chimes

​Broken coral wind 
chimes chatter 
as they wash ashore 
function served: crumbling
foundations—graveyard
or beach. The walking  
hurts, bare feet  
bristle against earth 
when calcite pierces  
skin, nails drag  
along the blackboard. 
Our teacher writes  
lessons but we don’t
listen. Claws scratch 
at an urgent itch. 
The washed-up 
coral is high  
pitched. Wind whispers, 
waves crumple 
and chimes clink, 
urgently scrawling 
on the blackboard.

Zoe (she/her) studies literature, philosophy, ecology and climate science in Naarm/Melbourne. She scrawls poetry on bits of paper and lives for adventures in nature. Zoe has been published by We Are Explorers, Lots Wife, Anaerkillik and Kos Magazine, as well as on her personal blog. Her Instagram is zoe.parsons.