Reef dwellers

by Sophie Finlay 

I. Gastropods

some coil flesh-pink,
lips lined with teeth
an aperture whorls to an apex.
within the extraordinary 
geometry of retreat
a mollusced body 
nestles in the silken
innermost layer--
the nacre of the shell

II. Nudibranchs

boneless, they shed their shells
after the larval stage.
with branching, naked gills
and soft horns
the nudibranchs feed 
on algae, sponges, coral
and sometimes each other,
absorbing the hues
of what they eat--
skins bulging with colour
and poison

III. Jewel anemones

a blush of footed pink, 
each tentacle has a tiny bud 
at the tip--
coloured more brightly
than the body of the polyp
and resembling a jewel
or a dew drop,
the ocean gives birth
to luminous forms

IV. Seahorses

an abdomen of bony rings
a coronet of filaments--
sensing with delicate fibres.
fins that allow the seahorses 
to hover above the ocean floor
like hummingbirds
and suck tiny shrimps
into their snouts.
tails to curl around
the kelps and grasses--
to hold-on in the sea-channels.
a seahorse father 
has a nursery pouch
in which he can adjust 
salinity levels,
preparing his babies 
to pour into the sea

Sophie Finlay is a visual artist and poet. She lives, works and creates on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. Her poetry is published in multiple journals including Meanjin, Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite Poetry Review, Plumwood Mountain journal and more. She has also been a finalist in several art prizes including the John Leslie Art Prize and the Salon des Refuses exhibition, Lethbridge Landscape Prize. Sophie is currently a PhD candidate in literary studies and creative writing at Deakin University.