The Great Barrier
I am nothing to him now
he is a fish I cannot save
delicate red fins fluttering
exposed gills contracting
hyperextended mouth biting
exoskeleton whipping
thrusting
violently, rapidly
silently
side to side
end to end
scales torn, caught on dry edges
he smacks himself sharp
as semi-transparent bone
against sun drenched brick pavers
deprived of water
he starves
gasps
gulps
writhes
panicking in self preservation
*
I do not see him die.
*
in the dream, I am his tank
flush with water
wet as the tropics
I am
paradise
everything he needs
but I have no hands,
no means to carry him
to safety,
to me,
to the sweet release of water
I have no way
to scoop him up
off the
insufferable city pavement
*
I ache for him
*
I slosh my anger, salty ancient liquid
escaping cruel glass barricades
riding high through tepid air
I crash
splashing into
thin blue carpet
I puddle, feckless
absorbed in fiber
*
I am nothing to him now
*
I awaken
choking
face down,
slender nose planted
in goose down feathers
allergic
gasping
*
nightly
I discover
myself
bowed down
before his absent crown
an indent,
a tidal depression,
proof of the great
barrier
these hands
still fingering
the artificial reef
***
Copyright © 01/13/2021 by Christy Munson. All rights reserved.
Comments (2)
eviserated in poetic style! Very well executed work
Sad but beautifully written.