Gladness
Oct 26, 2020
Gladness is the pup petted
and the kitten caressed
but other animals love pampering, too.
Gladness is the hippo hunkered
in a shoal of labeo fish
scrubbing all from tusk to tail to toe
Gladness is the mola mola moored
at the sea-surface for hungry gulls
to rip painful parasites from its hull
Gladness is the cleaner wrasse receiving
clients — mantas, groupers, and sharks —
a buffet of nibbles from hulking predators parked
