Within My Shell

[Sober Duck]

From within the ground
I rise
In my shell I hide and retreat
But as spring springs I become life
Snapping at the drop of a hat or a fly
Cantankerous within my container
I feel captive and at the same time protected
Bad with the good good with the bad
Blooming within my shell I can't be had

[panta rhei]

slow
slowly
a tortoise
thought creeps
along the sore remnants
of torturous metallic days
of prowled shambles
of cunning
harlot haste

silence
slow slowly drags
you home to the
place beyond
a place
eating your
hiccupped
voice
raw

[Ann Bingham]

from the sea i came
my many eggs to lay
but i must leave my brood
to find their own way
a trecherous path back to the sea
only the strongest survive
to produce another day.

[jimboloco]

turtle show
he's the dude
he got laid
fertilized the eggs
she was snappy
he's slap-happy
a slow return
strolling mur·mur
at home in deep water
without a worry
muddy waters
slow turtle jam
crawling onward
pub to pub!