In a Bowl
Some angel fish passed above the wreck
Of a plastic galleon, green-slimed,
Lodged at the bottom of a large tank,
Close by the life-giving bubbler. A dead fish
Floated up, passing fish occasionally darted at it;
A catfish nibbled beside a sunken slab of rock.
The fish moved quickly because they saw me.
They thought I was going to feed them
Some nice flakes, brown, yellow and green,
Full of vitamins, two dimensional chips of nutrition.
Had I frightened the dead fish to death?
A second fish was still by the wreck,
I could see its guts. Its guts thrust out,
Almost breaking it in two. At this time,
It sometimes twitched in pain and anger.
It seemed to me the water these fish
Lived in was stale, I wouldn’t like to drink it.
It smelt rusty and foul, not even breeding like marsh water
In the countryside. It was standing neutral and deadly
In the city, never moving in its cold corslet,
Killing the fish, one by one.
Page(s) 9
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