i apologized to the turtle

years of drifting and swimming
uncountable miles of ocean
until—cement and chlorine
chunks of marine turtle chow

higher primates tapping, tapping
clawing acrylic to caress you
which of us will you remember in your
next century?

refrigerator magnets, keychains,
t-shirts—portraits of you outlast
human memory

you remembered how to navigate the
seas after millenia on land yielded legs
confident despite the silence of each hour-long dive

i'm flustered by your captivity
i force myself on you—observe the wrinkles of your
paw, the mottled scales of your shell

unliberated, you will never again admire the light
     glinting off sand along the coast
unliberated, you will stay with us, your jailors—
     cellmates