sentient sea play
by Douglas J. Lanzo
upside-down tentacles swirl
through schools of minnows
Watching a common octopus in the movie ‘My Octopus Teacher’ harmlessly herd tide-surged minnows into a school and repeatedly maneuver its tentacles through it, harmlessly playing with it, I was astounded by its high level of intelligence. Despite interacting with the helpless minnows for an extended period of time, the recreational creature did not eat or catch a single minnow.
Further reading:
For additional information, besides watching the movie ‘My Octopus Teacher’, please take a look at a fascinating article on adaptive behavior in the March-April Issue of Harvard Magazine entitled ‘Inner Senses’ and a recent Harvard Law School article entitled ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ that chronicles the exploratory behavior and ability of octopi to individually recognize humans.
Author bio:
Doug is an international author whose Newbery-nominated novel, The Year of the Bear, won the 2023 Ames Award for Young Adult literature, was a finalist for the 2023 Hawthorne Prize and is a 2022 Firebird Award Winner. He has published 337 poems in 70 literary publications in 10 countries. He and his twin son poets enjoy nature, fishing, tennis, hiking and snorkeling. His Author’s website is at www.douglaslanzo.com .
Check out other sciku by Doug here: ‘Ornamental Defense‘, ‘Signaled Synchrony’, and ‘Undersea Fireworks’.