Ben Kessler

In the Baleen

The gastropods find ways
to amuse themselves

They gather around
the table and take turns
engaging in a little Mumblety-Peg
Converse on how
they have only now
acquired a taste
for orange juice with pulp
The littlest ones play
cops and robbers

All of this is possible
until the great beast sucks them in

Ben Kessler lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. He is an MFA student studying fiction at Portland State University.