from Manatee/Humanity [1]
sing manatee, manatee (you’d better praise all you can he said) all the trembling day & passing before her captivity reiterating a chant of manatee I began the manatee is found in shallow slow-moving rivers the manatee moves in estuaries moves in saltwater bays the manatee in moving moves gently the manatee is to be found in canals & coastal areas the manatee is a migratory animal the manatee is gentle & slow moving the manatee in slow-moving rivers slowly the manatee is completely herbivorous the West Indian manatee has no natural enemies the manatee has no natural enemies but unnatural man the manatee is constantly threatened by man unnaturally man with his boats & plastic & attitude the manatee often drowns in canal locks of man man who makes no concession to manatee the manatee dies in flood control structures man who makes no concession to manatee nor cares of manatee
Credit
From Manatee/Humanity. Copyright © 2009 by Anne Waldman. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Author
Anne Waldman
A prominent figure in the Beat poetry generation, Anne Waldman has published over forty books of poetry and is the cofounder of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. She served as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2011 to 2016.
Date Published
01/01/2009