When the remora are done
Devouring detritus as a delicacy,
Chewing chum as the choicest cut
In the nutritional void and the stagnation,
When the pH and the mechanisms
Leave visible lesions,
No longer eager for their
Rotation in the roster,
No longer mistaking proximity and use
For intimacy and reciprocation,
When your eyes cloud over
And your last brilliant scale flakes,
Then who are you to anyone?
-Melissa Donley