My Secret Life

A nautilus enfolded within the briny muck of a spiral shell

Builds secret chambers behind a trapdoor hood

While unintentionally broadcasting its prehistoric identity

Found in ruddy stripes, genetically imposed

Feathered tentacles unfold, slippery with sticky secretions

Tentatively emerging to taste and touch a dark and undulating world

Then, alarmed by a swiftly changing current, siphons away

To hide within secure crevasses of ancient rock.