somewhere off the islands of Hawaii,
the Yellow Tang saltwater fish,
its length a little longer than my hand,
swim along reefs anywhere from 6 to 150 feet deep,
hungry for algae, beaded on the backs of turtles,
like tears from a mermaid.
Perfectly balanced, its brilliant yellow
no camouflage, not even at night,
the males shimmer when they mate.
I could stare at such a fish for hours.
If its tiny brain has a goal,
would the Yellow Tang be aware of more
than warm water, the scent of algae?
Would this fish worry about tomorrow?
One day at a time; perhaps one hour?
Yellow Tang (Pixabay)
Tomorrow's prompt: Screaming into the wind.
You can visit OctPoWriMo at http://www.octpowrimo.com/ to read what others have written. Thank you, Morgan Dragonwillow, Michelle Vecchitto, Esther Jones, and Maria L. Berg for hosting this month-long poetry challenge.
If its tiny brain has a goal,
would the Yellow Tang be aware of more
than warm water, the scent of algae?
Would this fish worry about tomorrow?
One day at a time; perhaps one hour?
Yellow Tang (Pixabay)
Tomorrow's prompt: Screaming into the wind.
You can visit OctPoWriMo at http://www.octpowrimo.com/ to read what others have written. Thank you, Morgan Dragonwillow, Michelle Vecchitto, Esther Jones, and Maria L. Berg for hosting this month-long poetry challenge.
I could visualize the image. Beautiful expressions :)
ReplyDeleteThank you. I still can't decide if fish can 'smell' underwater, but I appreciate your comment.
DeleteI loved learning about the Yellow Tang fish. I like the ending, it promotes further pondering!
ReplyDeleteI will now, for ever wonder... :)
ReplyDelete