grow back the damaged parts of me

I am both metaphor

and symbol:

Mary Star of the Sea, Venus, Isis,

an oceanic constellation.

Look closely at my five arms. Do you see

how they scour the seascape for prey? How each one is sensor and actuator?

My hunger an invasive wrecking ball, annihilator

of coral reefs, exterminator of the smooth handfish.

You think regeneration can bring back

  all I have destroyed.

I am without blood, brains. Not goddess. Not astral body.

My ten thousand undulating tube feet feel for you.

Your kitschy sea star décor

makes me spit out my stomach.