an excerpt from the title poem of my forthcoming chapbook, Choose Your Own Adventure and Other Poems

Choose Your Own Adventure:

The Galápagos Mating Dance

You are a single woman, about to embark upon your most challenging and dangerous mission. Equipped with a libido and the instinct to bear children, your objective is to find the perfect mating ritual in the Galápagos Islands. You bravely face elaborate courtship dances, rough foreplay, and single parenting – but will you return to the U.S. with the partnership pattern that works for you?

Chapter One

You are a blue-footed booby.

A male approaches you

and begins to dance,

taking giant steps in place

to flaunt his turquoise feet,

indicators of his health.

If red throat pouches

are more of a turn-on,

skip to Chapter Two.

He offers you twigs and grasses,

symbols of the nest

you will build together.

Impressed, you dance too,

face-to-face walking

on a treadmill.

You mirror each movement,

a connection found

in how much you can act

like one another.

His dancing escalates-

wingtips, tail, beak

all point skywards.

When you match

his sky pointing,

the bond is sealed.

He whistles; you honk.

Even after nesting begins,

you continue to dance.

If you would rather

he stop trying to get it on,

so you can focus

on being a mom,

skip to Chapter Three.

You both incubate the eggs,

taking breaks only to hunt.

While you are off to eat,

he strays from the nest,

dances the booby-two-step

with other females,

but when you return,

he comes back immediately.

If you prefer a partner

who can abstain

from flirting with others,

go to Chapter Two.

Your family stays together

six months, one season.

Once the juvenile leaves the nest,

you both move on to new mates-

no empty nest syndrome for you.

If you prefer a partner

to grow old with,

rekindling the romance

once the kids are gone,
skip to Chapter Six.

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