by Ruth S. Baker

“More than 1,000 sea lions have gathered at San Francisco’s Pier 39 this spring, the largest herd in at least 15 years. …
displaying themselves to the thousands of tourists who pass by the area each day.”
—The Guardian

Across that luckiest of piers
Sea lions lie in stacks,
With tails on tails and snouts in ears,
And abdomens on backs.

Or, if we’re simply counting heads,
There’s tourists by the ton,
Outnumbering those pinnipeds
By more than two to one.