the man holds a fish
and this small boy
swims on a floor
in a sea of purulence /
the man does not
see or hear the fish
speaking; he cannot feel
how it flapped and gasped /
the boy can only hear
his breathing as it
struggles in the cold
and hard waves lapping
like a pummelling, like
a punishment /
the fish is empty inside
and this boy survives /
the man still holds his
dead fish, but doesn’t
look it in the eye / he did
not understand anything
Mike Ferguson
.