underwater, the male held
the female’s neck with his back legs
as though sitting on her head.
the pair were almost
completely still. every ten
minutes, he rippled his tail
and pheremones waved
over her. halfway through,
a second male tried to
wedge between them,
then gave up. but soon a dog–
running, barking–tromped
the pond. in dirt-blurred water,
the male unclasped, watched the female
rise to the surface.
“newts in amplexus” was first published in the British journal Anon.
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