Paul Burgess

Sea Turtles

The cruelest welcome party greets their birth. 
Instead of feeding at a mother’s teat,
they’re stretched upon a table for the mirth 
of birds and crabs that hunger for their meat. 
No time for toddling, sprinting from the first, 
the lucky reach a second party where
their thinning band of comrades is immersed 
in pools of creatures glad to eat them rare. 

The world’s so honest with them from the start —
no lullabies, no fairy tales believed, 
no revelation of the brutal part, 
no sudden grief at having been deceived. 
They learn so young of running for one’s life 
to earn the chance to swim in seas of strife.

Paul Burgess is the sole proprietor of a business in Lexington, Kentucky that offers ESL classes in addition to English, Japanese, and Spanish-language translation and interpretation services. He has recently contributed work to The Road Not Taken, Blue Unicorn, Light, The Orchards, Pulsebeat, Snakeskin, Lighten Up Online, and several other publications. https://paulburgesswritingandlanguage.blog/