I find myself in the family of giant sponges

I am here because of a congenital defect

Girl to sponge

Sponge to girl

An uncontrollable urge to absorb

Awakened by the cleaning wrasses

Here clear up my smell and slime

So that I can open up my pores and osculum

And the currents at the bottom

Can pull in all the plankton I need

To nourish my ever expanding

Lumpish curvy body

I want to wander this wet salty land

Seeking out my cousins

A fan, a cup, a cone, a barrel, an amorphous crust

But I am anchored by my tendrils to the sandy bottom

I procreate – perfect clones of myself

I do not need sperm and an egg

I can bump into a jagged rock

As a strong current passes over me

A piece of me now a new entity

But that is not fast enough for me

I use fishing boats and their deadly nets

Killing dolphins who just want to play

Killing food fish for my land locked family

Spreading bits of me across the miles

I smile as I stare at the sun streaking above

Streaking past the sand below

I am free – many more of me

Death is not my concern