weedy seadragons

somewhere in ohio, gloved
scientists high-five because a male
weedy seadragon did his job
& now there are more weedy
seadragons. in the shower, seaweed
that isn’t seaweed but is postpartum
slithers down my leg & i know
it is time to accept another round
of shedding. everything, even gain,
is some kind of loss. even after. how
many times i have been an almost-
hemorrhage, one band-aid short
of an emergency. how much of myself
i have wiped from toilet seats or bed
sheets or my own glasses. safety
looks like fists of kelp & seagrass
to the weedy seadragons so i build
my own forest sticking loose hair
to the fake wet marble & think
about how it might be nice to be
a weedy seadragon off the australian
coast or in a columbus aquarium but
then i remember that weedy seadragons
hide stomachless amongst the weeds
& wonder what it would mean to be
unseen