The Zebra Mussels
In the early 1990's I
read of the zebra mussels, a fresh-water bivalve that was beginning to infest
the Great Lakes. Originating in Eastern Europe, they apparently arrived in this
country as larvae in the ballast water of freighters and found American waters
very much to their liking. They are prolific breeders and they settle in their
sessile stage on any solid surface. They were clogging intake pipes of cities'
water systems and growing so thick and heavy upon the lakes' navigational aids
that they sank buoys. Inspired by those reports, I conceived the following:
We're the zebra mussels growing on your boat.
With several tons or more of us it just won't stay afloat.
The means to halt our wild-fire growth? We know you haven't got 'em.
We'll grow so thick upon your hull, it'll go
straight to the bottom.
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