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Poetry Foundation

Space Jellyfish: A Parable

By Aimee Nezhukumatathil
LInes of text curved upwards in the shape of jellyfish. The text reads: '2478 moon jellies were launched into space and soon bloomed to over 60,000 jellyfish. When it happens in the sky over Florida, everyone who looks up panics. Getting more for free is good, right? When the jellyfish returned to the ocean, they didn’t know which way is up anymore so they didn’t know when to stretch to light and when to stretch to the dark. But getting more and more on this planet is so good, right? But getting more and more on this planet is so good, right? Math time: if a rocket ship costs $62 million every time it is launched, subtract the animals that die when debris plummets into the ocean as such high speed any bird it hits becomes a plosive, bloody mist. Multiply that by being able to say you went to space to anyone who will listen for the rest of your life and add to it because getting more and more and more on this planet feels so good, right? And if tens of thousands of jelly fish don’t know which way is up anymore, isn’t that just fine?'

Source: Poetry (December 2025)
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