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A Fish in the Dark (with edit #1)

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indar
Posts: 2908
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:00 am

A Fish in the Dark (with edit #1)

Post by indar » Wed May 06, 2020 11:50 am

A Fish at Night 

Goldfish is a misnomer, some are black: I had one.
Kept it in a round bowl on the sideboard,
dropped a pinch of fishfood flakes
when I remembered and rarely
paid attention to the little life within.
 
All day it swam its circles
around the center clump of plastic seaweed,
turned and turned like Rilke's panther,
in water murky from neglect until
I found it gasping at the surface.

Bored with aquatic pet care
I drove the fishbowl to a nearby pond
and pitched the contents. High in a sparkling
arc of water I saw that fish for what it was,
fins flared in sunlight it transformed
into midnight, iridescent rainbow brilliance,
leapt again exuberant.


Transfixed, I waded into shallows
so cold my flesh was numbed
yet I stood there till the water calmed
and I could see below the surface

but the fish was gone.






 
**************************************************************************
A Fish in the Dark

Goldfish is a misnomer, some are black: I had one.
Kept it in a round bowl on the sideboard,
dropped a pinch of Tetrafin fish flakes
when I remembered and rarely
paid attention to the little life
within. All day it swam its circles
around the center clump of plastic seaweed,
turned and turned like Rilke's panther,
in water murky from neglect until
I found it gasping at the surface.

Bored with the aquatic pet venture
I drove the fishbowl to a nearby pond
and pitched the contents. High in a sparkling
arc of water I saw that fish for what it was,
fins flared in sunlight it transformed
into midnight irridescent rainbow brilliance,
leapt again exuberant.

"How", I gasped, "did you survive
in all that beauty and I not notice?"
It came into the shallows,
turned its coin-gold eye, regarded me.
"Because you are human", I heard it say,
"you are arrogant". Chastised, wanting to amend  
my behavior, I told it how I would delight in its return.
It stared in silence. "Then" I implored
"If I whistle for you on occasion
will you swim near shore to me?"

"Will you live on shore" it countered, "to wait for me
should I decide to come to you?" 

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Colm Roe
Posts: 2697
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:45 am

Re: A Fish in the Dark

Post by Colm Roe » Wed May 06, 2020 6:41 pm

Lots to love here Linda.
Being a scuba diver who doesn't eat anything that lives under water I'm bound to anyway.
I'm sure I mentioned before about how convenient it is for people who catch them that these watery creatures don't have voices; imagine if they could scream as they're hooked, piked, slowly suffocated or chopped up... with no concern for their stress and pain. They possess memory, I've seen this in action. So a fish bowl, or even a large home aquarium, is just cruel.
This was obviously a dream. But what a nice one. Your conscience instructing your ego :D
And the ending was perfect :D

ajduclos
Posts: 1746
Joined: Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:35 pm

Re: A Fish in the Dark

Post by ajduclos » Wed May 06, 2020 7:27 pm

This is beautiful, Linda, and wrenching, awakening.  I think Colm speaks volumes about it. So wonderfully well written.
Aj

Dave
Posts: 1991
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:07 am

Re: A Fish in the Dark

Post by Dave » Fri May 08, 2020 8:23 am

I very much enjoyed this Linda
Dave
 

indar
Posts: 2908
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:00 am

Re: A Fish in the Dark

Post by indar » Fri May 08, 2020 9:53 am

I wrote a rather lengthy response to Colm and AJ and see now that I forgot to hit submit. The second time around is never as brilliant :D

Colm, yes it is drawn from a dream, a series of fish dreams I had quite a while ago and journaled about. I think it is a matter of spirit instructing the ego which takes in a whole spectrum of human impulse.

Thank you AJ for the read and kind words.

I'm glad you enjoyed it Dave, Thanks for the read :)

memo to self: hit submit

poet-e
Posts: 247
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2019 3:10 pm

Re: A Fish in the Dark

Post by poet-e » Fri May 08, 2020 11:38 am

Lovely imagery, idea, poem!

Had to look up Rilke's panther.

indar
Posts: 2908
Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:00 am

Re: A Fish in the Dark

Post by indar » Sun May 10, 2020 8:36 am

Lovely imagery, idea, poem!


Had to look up Rilke's panther.

 thank you poet-e . One of the poems I read in Freshman English that made me realize what a poem can do:

[font]https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-panther[/font]

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