These are asphalt pools with placid surface
Bubbles emerge in a slow graceful dance
Traps for large creatures in bygone ages
Who weren’t careful enough at pool edges
Just a few steps in and the seeds were sown
For the creature’s fate to be set in stone
To slowly sink into a toxic glue
Finally pass completely out of view
Though La Brea pools are a hazard no longer
There is a pool posing immediate danger
An expanding pool with seething surface
Bubbles emerge in an explosive dance
A trap for all things in our current age
Which do not evade its dynamic edge
Just a few yards in and the seeds are sown
For the victim’s fate to be set in stone
To slowly sink into a toxic glue
Finally pass completely out of view
David Radford is a retired college professor who loves gardening and the great outdoors. Creative writing has been a welcome change from the technical writing his career demanded.