Mangrove Wetlands

shallow as the land is
there’s still so much
that trickles through
shellrock,
limestone

your fingers push
past leaf-rot, mud,
leave sandprints sucking

mangrove-straws palm water
jammed with upside down
umbrella jellies, their ribs broken
by wind and symbiotic algae
in their guts

juvenile barracuda scour the nests
their metal glinting
against the ten eyes
of a dinosaur helmet crab
six gills shredding
brackish waters

we are in suspension
between sand and saltsea
gaping through goggles
intruders at the nursery