[Martin Elster]

My Cousin Dee

No doubt my cousin Dee’s most distant kin
existed at the cosmos’ origin.
She’s relative of rock and air and water,
sister of the dolphin and the otter,

the drifting plankton, even the bacteria
and viruses that have caused mass hysteria,
all star-forged atoms in propinquity
to hawksbill, hummingbird, and honeybee.

Although she knows what, for the most part, man
forgets (all things compose the cosmic clan),
my cousin Dee would far prefer to mull
some wine than thoughts so philosophical.

She hardly ever leaves her musty attic.
Being seen is simply too traumatic,
for she is gawked at everywhere she goes
thanks to her tail, spiked ears, and nine-inch nose.