Desert Shrimp

I know of a tiny desert shrimp

that lives just two short weeks.

Its hatched, matures, lays eggs, and dies,

in a span of just two weeks.

The desert rain fills the little pool

and the moist warmth brings the birth.

The desert shrimp, in its fortnight sea,

is a part of the vast expanse of earth,

but its day is a sun that rises and sets 

on the lips of its withering pool,

shore to shore on a withering pool.

Just two weeks to see and know,

two weeks to be and do.

It learns its world and knows its sun,

and its work is finished when it’s just begun,

for its day is a sun that rises and sets

on the lips of its withering pool,

shore to shore on a withering pool. 

Terry W. York