around one

Itzia Ferrer

at the border of the day
life unfolds
swaying in crystal clear waters
strobe bioluminescence bursts
mapping the return to the home reef
sheltered by the ages among watchmaking genes
between the waves where the stars are born
and the sky melts with the sea
I turn into a fish at dusk
with the smile of the moon
the beat restarts to tick again
at the border of the day

The Science

This poem is inspired by recent research, which has used clownfish (AKA anemonefish) to study the behavioural and genetic basis of diel rhythms and how circadian rhythms and their regulatory mechanisms appear highly conserved.

The Poet

Itzia Ferrer is a neuroscientist and aspiring poet from Cuernavaca, México, currently living in Sweden. She writes poetry in Spanish and English and has a great love for nature and a passion for the brain and science communication. She writes about current scientific brain research in combination with poetry at digitaldendrites.net.

Next poem: Chance Meeting by Sarah Archer