Cold Fish
Fish are r-selectors,
They spew their eggs upon the deep.
On the current, on the hope
That a few of them will seep their way to adulthood,
Playing the odds and making good.
A few, though, are protectors –
Mouth-brooders, seahorses,
Their eggs in an extra envelope.
But once they’re born, of course, they’re on their own –
Even in a shoal, they swim alone.
But sharks are k-selectors,
Giving birth to one or two –
Yet then they leave their pups to cope.
So fish are absent parents, true, but don’t condemn –
I guess the numbers show it works for them.
Rhyming Couplets 