Catfish

It nuzzles oblivion, confuses
             itself with mud. A creature

of familiar taste, it ambushes
               from its nest of ooze the pond's

brighter fish, clears its palate
              with their eggs, lumbers fat

and stagnant into winter, lulled
              into dreams of light sinking until

light drowns, and all is as before.

Copyright Credit: Claudia Emerson, "Catfish" from Secure the Shadow. Copyright © 2012 by Claudia Emerson.  Reprinted by permission of Louisiana State University Press.
Source: Secure the Shadow (Louisiana State University Press, 2012)