A POEM ABOUT A MANATEE SUFFERING FROM AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS

i feel like i talk about severe depression and levitating coffees in my writing more than i realize

in florida, there is a manatee eating 9% of its body weight in underwater plants

in the amazon, there is a manatee fasting for two months during a dry season

in florida, there is a manatee swimming in lettuce in a tank

in new york, there is a confused manatee swimming in the hudson river

in peru, there is a very lonely and hungry manatee concentrating hard on not becoming extinct

in the carribeans, there is an antillean manatee sprinting in a lagoon at 15 mph to amuse itself

in the winter, there are 200 manatees congregating at a power plant for warmth

in the amazon, there is a manatee renewing 90% of the air in its lungs in a single breath

in pennsylvania, there is a human writing a poem and only renewing 10% of the air in its lungs in one breath

in west africa, there is a manatee bellowing while being eaten by a shark

in central florida, there is a human crying while being neglected by another human

in pennsylvania, there is a human concentrating hard on not being an asshole

in outer space, there is a lost manatee orbiting the earth, free from sharks, rejection from its family, the risk of being slashed by a motor boat, and the pressure of obtaining a suitable mate to continue the population and avoid extinction; not feeling safe or relaxed but rather feeling a profound sense of loneliness and desperation with a complete loss of hope in ever finding a meaning in existence

BRIGHTER AND CLEARER

after i have an orgasm my body feels like a sombrero shaped galaxy slowly expanding in the eyepiece of a 4th grader's telescope

after i watch a family of lions tear apart the body of a large deer on the discovery channel i feel a calming sense of inferiority

after i watch a horror movie i can't go to the bathroom without you holding my hand while i pee

after i take my vegan dietary supplement my piss is brighter and clearer

after i kiss your eyelids my lungs squeeze out through my ribs, then through my belly button and slowly fly to your face and push very lightly on your cheeks

after i forget something i said i would remember my brain becomes a roll of vegetable futomaki that an obese chinchilla is trying to eat all in one bite

after i make you cry one of my organs melts into a runny paste that trickles down the inside of my body and collects at the bottom of my feet

after i make you feel indifferent towards me my heart turns into a small desert hamster running very quickly on an exercise wheel and then tripping and then spinning around in distress until the wheel stops and the hamster can get up and try running again, but in a more conscious and concerned way
 

Ellen Kennedy lives in Pennsylvania. She doesn't like Pennsylvania. She writes poems to comfort her when she thinks about Pennsylvania. Some of these poems have been featured in Elimae, Juked, Melancholia's Tremulous Dreadlocks, 2nd Avenue Poetry, and Bear Parade. She also writes children's books with Tao Lin about lonely things, one of which lives in Pennsylvania. They can be read here.