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worm-hides curing
on a stake palisade
guards in polychaete leather
armed with poisoned echinoid spears

distant dust
the intertidal delegation
conveys the Prince
to his new home
the splendor of the Tidepool Court!
the nudibranch quadrille!
the speckled cowrie gardens!
the tube-worm galleries!
He may not last long
but what a way to go!

everyone in the rude Court bereft
sheds a tear of longing
and dreams of royalty