Kelp Me, Doctor, I’m a Female Echinoderm

By Christa Fairbrother

---

The doctor asks, What brought you in today?
I feel like felt.
Spending time in the sand will do that.
Some days I spew mucus.
A poor heart can cause that.
And I’m waved away.
My questions a tumble
of bitten rocks I swallow 
sure I’ve failed the test, my body.
Never once did he ask after
the sharp star of my core,
lantern bright, but my pores
ache and my bladder sinks.
In anger or hunger
I can clear-cut a forest
of seaweed, roll through every nori,
drown my sorrows in food,
but that only leaves me 
a lonely urchin, to blame
for the sea’s poverty.

---

---

Christa Fairbrother, MA, has had poetry in Bellingham Review, Crannog, Epiphany, Pleiades, and Salamander, among others. Currently, she’s Gulfport, Florida’s Poet Laureate and a poetry editor at Phylum Press. She’s been a finalist for the Leslie McGrath Poetry Prize, the Wilder Prize, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize twice. She loves tea and avocados. Connect with her at christafairbrotherwrites.com, on IG @christafairbrotherwrites, or BlueSky @christafairbrother.

---

• Note: Residency applications for SWWIM’s residency at The Betsy Hotel are now open until August 1. We can’t wait to read yours! See more about the residency on our website.

• SWWIM’s Weekly Spotlight is now on hiatus until August 15. Please hold off on sending your news until then. (Forms that are sent in anyway will be automatically deleted.)

• Are you looking for editorial feedback? SWWIM’s editors offer commentary on 3-6 pages of poetry. Submit here!

• SWWIM Every Day accepts poetry translations for publication consideration. Please see swwim.org/submit for the full guidelines.

• Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, and Bluesky for more updates—and visit our website to see past, present, and future readings & events.

---

**We do our best to preserve the integrity of each poem; however, due to programming limitations, some poems may read differently on a mobile phone and in certain browsers. For best viewing, use Chrome on a desktop/laptop.