Definition- the flora and fauna found on the bottom, or in the bottom sediments, of a sea, lake, or other body of water
Poetry by Johanna Tollefson
Then a realization— Underwater plants need sunlight to breath,
just like any other plant. You might think
this is a metaphor, but it’s just a fact. A fact like in her fantasies,
they are both fish. Fish have fish problems. Every day is swim
or swim away. You might think
this is a metaphor, but it’s the truth. The ultra-violet rays of the sun
spear through waterbodies. Waterbodies is the correct term for all bodies
of water, saline or fresh. Flowers and fish
are both easily killed off by phytoplankton. Phytoplankton accumulates,
grows thick in silty water, they are microscopic. In the scope of things
what else is the absence of sun but the end?
What else is beginning but a breath of fresh air and you the fish? This is benthic
living— A root in the mud soil. A fish to clean the water air. A sun to breath
light. And you, a metaphor for a rock at the bottom of a pond.
Johanna Tollefson is a writer of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, currently getting her MFA from Minn State, Mankato. She is new to the Midwest, hailing from Idaho and Oregon, but is settling into the long winters and humid summers. She loves all things sensory and is also growing a recipe resume which she loves to use on guests.
