By Özge Lena

The lungfish can survive out of water for almost four years,

but where? This is longer than your age. During drought, it digs
a hole to enclose itself in a capsule with a tiny opening for breath.

When it rains, it dissolves, the lungfish swims away. What if the rain
is a thing of the past? What if I must migrate to another dry Aegean city

again on a plastic boat? Luckily you were encapsulated in my belly last time,
and we were alive when washed ashore. Maybe I must start digging now.

~~~

Özge Lena is an internationally published poet who appears in The London Magazine, Hunger Mountain Review, The Madrid Review, The International Times, and in numerous magazines across continents. She recently presented her poetic approach “Catapoetics” at the International Conference on Poetry Studies, Birkbeck, University of London. Her ecological-themed poetry earned Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations and was shortlisted for the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition, The Plough Poetry Prize, Ralph Angel Poetry Prize, and the Black Cat Poetry Press Nature Prize. Özge’s poetry has been featured in many worldwide anthologies and was showcased at Barnes & Noble for Poetry Month.