“65% of Americans believe they are above average in intelligence” – 2018 NIH article
The throat aches, a cushion pinned
by years of acute flounder bones.
Remember, we’re all as accidental
as nectar palms living off light
the golden tuba woofs down
during its daily glide across the blue
cotton field of gulls and contrails.
And our cells still course the corpuscles
of sea worms and wielders of ink.
As the cottony blue gives way
to tar, crickets, blowballs, flutes,
and the tuba-tolled dented gong,
I finally understand: what the self-
appointed penguins say is wrong.
It’s not gold or gold-plated figurines
I crave but who I can’t become,
an orca whistling and liked.
