Intergradation

" Intergradation "

by Suzán Jiván
Mom & Mom-
Mom Suzán

Ceremonial openings
set in motion
by pomp and parade
feeling constrained

as safety nets praised
in name-calling debates
with quests for inter-racial
inauguration days

never mentioning
the word, "gay"
equated days later
stopping climate change

robust articulation
devastated by rage
in ditches and cattle tanks
keel down back and carapace

intergradation taking place
in shallow lakes
of isolated populations
basking and wary

on panhandles
as fully adult males
with very long nails
wandering about the land

heavily scaled black hatchlings
" calipee " " calipash "
succulent gelatinous
imagined aphrodisiac

mainly of grass and pads
hinged across plastrons
as shallow pallets
burrowing mammals

still in demand
yellowish and tan
almost anywhere
beady scales

running on land
sliding dashing
in mud or sand
for breaths of air...