Spineless

stay above the surface
among exposed roots and rivulets
mangroves tops and moss carpets
float down channels and canals
manmade or the best example
of Martian engineering

carve up the world

savannah or desert
a dried up plain of baked earth
where a droplet is a well
where torrents used to flow
and now the land caves in
flake by flake
time's fingerprints dissolved

or get stuck in a muddy mess
swamps and bogs
an other such novelty environs
hold your ground with sticky tenacity

there is no protection
in a world that has stopped moving
no distraction and only the presence
of all kinds of predatory things

but in the water
keep an open mind
a soft touch
standing your ground
dams up the flow
gets you stuck in the gutter

so put up your feet
let go and give way

no shell
no scaffolding
now that is what I call
fearless living

even a still pond does a ripple
takes on an ornate solar reflection
glare convergence offers safe passage
keeps those with a taste for the vulnerable
otherwise occupied with shiny mirages

hovering in aqua-space
constant ciliation
flamboyantly tender
doggedly persistent
finlike solar sails
sparkling anodized, fleshy hulls
whiskers in all directions
never intimidated by harder things
spineless

Image 1

Image 2

Spineless is copyright Pryde Foltz

Link to contest page ...https://steemit.com/steemitschool/@d-pend/announcing-the-steemit-school-poetry-100-day-challenge
Join the steemit school on discord https://discord.gg/q9VEn5n