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Old Octopus

Published onDec 09, 2024
Old Octopus
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Old Octopus


In the beginning he had many arms. 
Now he bumps along the ocean's floor, 
a lone tentacle slowly heaving, 
sniffing out the madrepores.

"You say I vent to hide or threaten. 
It's not so. Ink is connection. 
I vent to embrace. I vent to hold you. 
Armless, I yearn, I stay in motion. 

My ink is thicker than your water, but 
I am so small, a fist without fingers, 
and you are everywhere. I do what I do. 
I can't swim. I don't sleep. What I do is linger, 

wait for the proper current. When it comes 
– it is here, now – I flood the deep with longing.”


Volume 43, no. 1, 2014

Gustavo Pérez Firmat’s imaginative writing has been published in The Paris Review, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, The Carolina Quarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review, and other journals. His most recent book is My Favorite Monster (2024), a volume of translations from the Spanish. He is the David Feinson Professor Emeritus of Humanities at Columbia University. His website: gustavoperezfirmat.com.
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