Poems for the Golden Fish

Clear Boundary

If I look up,

I can see the Charles

Beyond my manager’s desk.

I see developers walk back and forth

delivering printed code

to those who live by consuming paper

Golden fish

You are missing,

My dear friend

And there's no searching for you

I have a screen in front of me all the time

Your voice

Your words

Bless it

Make the bits of bytes come alive

Here

we are black and white

and binary

broken into 0s and 1s

Droning code

While the crickets play every variation

of their theme

My prince

You broke away slowly

One lap behind

Or ahead

Underwater in a splash

A dead blank screen.

Smooth as the surface of water

on that last windless day.

When the ripples of our bodies

were holy

Were a miracle

I knew you once in flesh

(Every fiber, every hair)

And now

your mind is behind this glass

This ice

Thicker than winter

And you do not break the surface

My eye misses your voice

Everything is spam

Everywhere

People are happy

And I look for you

Under the lily pads

==

“Where are you?”

“Make me feel again”

===

Sky Swimming

If you were listening,

I’d tell you where I was last night.

Dreams of swimming the Hudson

Or maybe East River

Can't identify the bridge

But maybe it's too close

I’m too close

and see only

the steel rising up from the water

like a ladder

Friendly as scaffolding

Dreams about climbing

Mean challenges in your life

You are trying to overcome

Insurmountable

and Emotionally Exhausting

Sisyphus

Just when I finally arrive

you are not there after all.

But I

Dive deep and there is a tunnel

Of air

where you can

Fly through the water

Like a train

A subway

And I see but do not look for

The fish that follows me

Gold like wheat

Like the farmer

Tall blonde Norwegian

Also silent

Who harvests the golden wheat

And the fish burned golden

As he pulls it from the oven

And the golden sunset window

Over his shoulder

That he never notices

And I swimming

swimming

swimming  across this river

Until I realize I can stand up

and the water is not deep after all

I forgot!

(I’m struggling against myself)

Stretch up out of it

Like a bird

And fly across

I forgot I could fly!

It turns out

It is the

Same as swimming

But less wet

===

When I Give in and Start Yelling at You

I talk to you when I swim.

As if you are swimming beside me

As if you would swim beside me

And the only thing preventing you

Is that call I didn't make.

I don't have to do this alone,

You know

Plenty of other friends

Who would come with me

You know.

You could be my witness

Here

You know

If you could

Why are you

so stubbornly

disappeared?

==

The Praying Mantis Stops To Watch

He saw her on his walk

A bobbing head

Hoping for a beaver

Or a dog

Almost disappointed at the human

Although it will always be his most unusual sighting in this pond.

He notes the expanse of skin

And wonders if the hair

Wet clumping at the base of her neck

Might be hiding

The string of her suit

He decides to talk to her

Shouts from the shore

But she doesn't hear

He's too old

To be yelling at swimmers

Easily fitting into a category

Of old man

He could follow her until she got out

And he did

Afraid to hide in the bushes

Hoping shed see him

Allowing her to out him

Willing her to see him

As a fellow nature

Naturalist

Nudist

He'd ask her why

This is too odd a place to swim

They'd talk about

Birds

Wildflowers

Peaks

Biology

She'd be impressed

By his spotting abilities

How he knows the Latin names

Of every bug

She'd probably jump

When he showed her all she was swimming next to

He waits, quietly, near a landing

Where she is likely to emerge

Waves to her,even!

And she waves back friendly

And he finds a Praying Mantis

And loses sight of her

698 words