Just a mollusk

Although many may not agree

All these things I did see
A creature full of surprises

Its skin's texture, color, and pattern disguises

Its size it can change

Its shape rearrange

One person from another it can tell

Using its suction cups to taste and smell

Jet propelled

A cloud of ink expelled

Loyal to only one mate

Its intelligence we underrate

Shy, a solitary sole

Capable of bonds emotional

With a poisonous bite

It can pierce a crab shell in a fight

It will shake your hand

And can walk on land

A life so short

Always looking for sport

Easily bored, for a gag

It provokes its mate to play tag

Rides a nurse shark like a horse

Gets knocked off of course

Squirt you with a playful water jet

Though a predator, it kept a pet

Farms lobsters that it herds

Flashes iridescent messages instead of words

It's own tools it creates

Human behaviors imitates

Hearts, it has three

Is it capable of more love than you or me?

Author's Note

I have had several octopus over the years and witnessed amazing unbeliveable things as I watched them 12 hours a day in my office. The female won't eat after laying eggs and slowly starves to death. I have watched her mate bring her food to no avail, and when she died try to force it in her beak, He carried her to the surface then watched her body all night until I removed the body the next day. He then wouldn't eat himself and died after several days. They have watched me clean their tank and then gathered discarded shells from behind coral and put them in a pile, where I could gather them up. They will use a small rock to prop open a clam shell, so they can get in to eat the clam. Although they will usually eat most anything in the tank, I had one that ate every fish I put in except one small damsel that it kept for months, often reaching out to pet it but never grab it.

Reviews

[Charlie's Enigmatic Wre..]

This is a lovely poem - thoughtful and thought provoking. We humans, generally speaking of course, so often underestimate other forms of nature, and even more often overestimate ourselves! Well done :)

[Soren]

Thank you for taking your time to review and comment on this poem.