For the immortal jellyfish
Bell-shaped, bearing a mouth at the tip. Umbrella
cascading fairy lights. Invertebrate hitchhiker,
free-swimming radical propelled on the currents
by rhythmic muscular contraction. All your cells
a library of what they were before—pulped,
polyped, and reformed. Extraordinary survivor,
an ember encased in a moon snail egg, trailing
lines without anchor. Resets when damaged.
Myth-headed hydra, small and pink as a nail.
You Theseus your way through time, asking
each new sea about the nature of mortality.
With all your cells replaced, are you still you?