#goldfish
They say there’s a ghost in the pond.
Big as a dog, orange like fire,
wears a face that’s not its own…
a mask of stone and fury.
But it’s no ghost.
It’s a goldfish.
One they flushed,
or forgot,
or never believed in
when it was small.
It lived in glass.
Fed crumbs of care.
Until the world cracked open,
and water poured wide.
The fish swam free…
and became itself.
Now it rules the pond.
Not with teeth,
but with power.
The koi step aside.
The shadows watch it pass.
Because this goldfish
learned how to grow.
Not a ghost.
Not a warning.
Just a goldfish
who outgrew
everything they gave him.
Apr 7, 2025
Apr 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM UTC
I don't like the crumbs,
But I eat them anyway.
I eat them like they're whole,
As they are the best part to me.
They are always there.
Like a man who's instead
Learned to fish
There's more
to be had,
Saving the rest for later.
I take slow, small, deliberate
bites,
Like a goldfish,
Mostly inhaling water,
Saving the bigger pieces
for you.
Although they're all mine,
They taste better, knowing
That I've shared them with you.
No matter how far these crumbs
Drift apart,
Whether you eat them fast
Or you eat them slow,
There will always be something left
To swim around
in your stomach.
I am afraid to close my eyes
And miss the moment you
Savor it all.
I could tell you that I've saved
The best part
for you,
Knowing that it's all I have to give.
My hands are only so big
Dec 11, 2024
Dec 11, 2024 at 1:03 PM UTC
the goldfish swim in circles
casting shadows on my skin
the ripples in the water refract the sun's rays
my eyes burn
i exhale
up
up
and bubbles of air float up
my hand drifts towards the surface
the cool air meets my fingertips
goosebumps kiss my skin
i twirl my hand and the water dances through my fingers
the goldfish disappear
like they always do
my hand begins to sink
i close my eyes
and release
one
final
breath
Feb 2, 2021
Feb 2, 2021 at 9:59 AM UTC
1. Headlights glowed like cigarette ends in the twilight
2. As soon as they winked out in the warm, weedy field, and the harsh engine noise snapped into silence, I began to cry.
3. Father stepped quietly towards me and I sniffed as I smelled the earth I was digging, the sweat I was dripping, the carcasses I was covering.
4. Beneath the distant moon Father paused, watching me sift dirt over the remains of two limp goldfish.
5. The morbid scene glittered as moonlight sparkled off my tears and the half-buried scaled.
6. A small tribute to their salty home.
7. As if on cue, the wind ruffled the tops of the grain in the neighboring unshorn field; the undulating stalks mimicked the ocean.
8. Their grave remains unmarked.
Oct 14, 2020
Oct 14, 2020 at 8:29 PM UTC
There is a goldfish
living in a shoe.
Afraid to get out
and see the sky blue.
There is a goldfish
living in a shoe.
Who once lived in water
which is blue.
May 13, 2020
May 13, 2020 at 8:34 AM UTC
This is the story of a tipped tree,
Some fish,
And two men who hit the streets.
They wanted to spread the word
About how to keep pets safe.
To speak up for those who could
Not be heard.
They'd knock on the door,
Say "hi! We're from PETA!
And just like that, they weren't
Invited to say anymore.
This happened again and again and again.
Finally, they agreed "one more. Then that will be the end."
They knocked on the door.
But this time, no one answered.
They knocked again, no answer.
They went to the window
And what did they see?
Baby goldfish in clear ***** of water
Hanging off the tree.
They looked at each other, and both said "we need to act quick."
Luckily, the door was unlocked.
No lock to pick.
Handling them with care,
They got the fish to safety and got
Out of there. But before they left,
They kicked the tree down in anger.
And that's the story of how the tree was knocked over not by a cat,
But a stranger.
Dec 16, 2019
Dec 16, 2019 at 8:10 PM UTC
Circle round once more...
Perhaps it is different now...
infinite glass wall...
Feb 24, 2020
Feb 24, 2020 at 9:20 PM UTC
Bubbles bound for breakers,
Sea salt snacky snakers,
Great gulp goldfish galleys,
Brown beard barnacles and reef rash rallies,
Abstract art, active angles,
Tingly teepee tension tangles,
Swimming so safety sound,
Newest navies so nobly nouned!
Feb 20, 2020
Feb 20, 2020 at 5:02 PM UTC
She was like a storm
with no rain...
Just a tornado of destructive vocabulary.
Destroying every excuse
that I ever gave.
I was never a flood, never a river
of ill equipped reasons.
Sometimes I just slipped on my
own excuses.
I was the goldfish in her bowl
of life..
And I had the memory of,
yes darling ill do that.
But I shut the door and her wind
became a breeze that never
dried in my thoughts..
My memory was a goldfish
out of water only interested
In breathing.
But no matter what,she'll never
rain down.she'll just dry me off
and sometime I remember,
and kisses are rained down instead
of huricane vocabulary..
Feb 15, 2020
Feb 15, 2020 at 12:48 PM UTC
As I stargaze
I notice
Two perfect
Triangles in the sky
And goldfish
Jumping through them
Like a ring of fire.
Mar 27, 2019
Mar 27, 2019 at 1:01 PM UTC
You live oblivious
In a world of your own,
Lacking the chance
To explore the unknown.
Your time here on earth is just a short while
But you move quick enough to travel many a mile.
Bubbles of life are left in your wake,
But you depend on others
For the breaths that you take.
Tiny in body
But giant in soul,
You are anything but common
And more than your role.
Scales of gold shimmer in the sun;
Many share your traits, but in a million,
You’re the only one.
In a towering castle on psychedelic rocks,
You can hide
From this world and all of its shocks.
If you’re feeling social, you’ll come out to play,
Enchanting giants
Who walk in the light of day.
The gurgle of the filter is the only noise at night,
So you’ll call it a day
And snuggle up tight.
Not unlike Alice,
I, too, live in Wonderland
And shy away
From things I don’t understand.
Like you, I am unique in my skin,
Light pours from my heart,
And I glow from within.
We share our size,
But our limits know no bounds.
We are full of life
Even when no one’s around.
I depend
On friends and family
For love and support;
With a small group I’ve formed a rapport.
Though I’ll live several more years,
I still move at fast paces
Despite the unknown
And my fears.
You are trapped
By a bowl,
I am trapped by the chains of my age;
This often gives me rage.
I’m often bubbly and can put on a show.
We both need time to recharge,
Which many don’t know.
When night wakes
And the sun finds its bed,
Only you’ll retire,
For many ideas swirl in my head.
Dec 19, 2018
Dec 19, 2018 at 4:01 PM UTC
in the desert
a spider traps a mouse
a woman cries
I feel her hot tears
on my head
they drip drip drip
I look out over my balcony
wondering, why?
what is the point?
a man lives alone with his goldfish
he hasn't seen a woman naked in years
he reads a novel and laughs to himself
I hear his laughter
It crowds my mind
I feel its hands and elbows poke my sides
I walk into work
I walk out
somewhere downtown,
a teenager is trying marijuana for the first time
I feel the warmth
the guilt
I feel endless
Oct 7, 2018
Oct 7, 2018 at 5:20 PM UTC
the world carries on outside my apartment
fighting
drinking
laughing
sleeping
a girl finds a flower
a man drives to work
a woman eats some green beans
a soldier wonders why he signed up
for this
a fat law maker **********
and me
I sit
and think
sometimes, cry
don't know what else to do
summer breathes hot air down my neck
and somewhere a baby is born
it is cold there
and her father is dead
Oct 7, 2018
Oct 7, 2018 at 5:16 PM UTC
I kept you,
despite my constant worry
that it was wrong of me to do so
(you also kept me,
but you couldn't
possibly know that).
Around and around you'd go,
and my gaze went with you,
felt like I was weightless,
until at once the dream I sunk into
with you rose and evaporated
like a sudden, desperate breath.
I held you then,
tried to keep you warm,
sang you songs,
told you it would be alright.
I was left breathing onto you
as your spirit rose and evaporated
into the room around me,
into the air I breathe.
Jun 20, 2018
Jun 20, 2018 at 6:10 PM UTC
I'd bring
with my
spoon a
cherry whether
a shubunkin
in the
lagoon but
with a
knife would
bait my
hook if
fished such
lure with
the moon
till darkness
fell on
entry there
May 31, 2018
May 31, 2018 at 7:02 AM UTC
***spawning promises
deep in the pond with goldfish
the final breakdown***
Jan 31, 2018
Jan 31, 2018 at 10:34 AM UTC
lasT night I dreamt; that goldfish~ turned toxic,,,
biolum-inescence meant only" radiation every ardent drop i poured out from the well deeeeeeep in My <Heart3
was met with swe||ing contamination
and algae-rusted gi//s i tried s0 hard I did!!!! to
save them: My Hands s-
-shhakking I begged please, , please but
suddenly the (moon) got so much green....er
and somehow_i could only think of
?you
Apr 7, 2017
Apr 7, 2017 at 2:23 PM UTC
(Just going back to the basics here)
i am a goldfish who lives in a bowl, I like water that's warm,not cold
To escape to the sea is my ultimate goal I will live a fish life that is fun and bold
They feed me food that is gray and dry Sometimes the food hits me in my eye
I get really mad and hide in my castle My eyes turn red like an apple
One day I will grow and eat other fish and if not I will be served as a dish
Nov 21, 2016
Nov 21, 2016 at 11:29 PM UTC
in the desert
a spider traps a mouse
a woman cries
I feel her hot tears
on my head
they drip drip drip
I look out over my balcony
wondering, why?
what is the point?
a man lives alone with his goldfish
he hasn't seen a woman naked in years
he reads a novel and laughs to himself
I hear his laughter
It crowds my mind
I feel its hands and elbows poke my sides
I walk into work
I walk out
somewhere downtown,
a teenager is trying marijuana for the first time
I feel the warmth
the guilt
I feel endless
Dec 10, 2015
Dec 10, 2015 at 6:17 AM UTC
Frisky, little, swimmer
danceful wiggle dips
Yellowy, orange, shimmer
puckering fishy lips
Thoughtful, quiet, feller
never any yips
Lonely, curious, critter
Got any life tips?
Feb 16, 2015
Feb 16, 2015 at 11:20 AM UTC
Losing your mind
a molecule at a time ?
Or are we just part of the God brain
and maybe part maker
of his omnipotent thought .
Maybe we are partial sums
in a gigantic cosmic particle bank .
Maybe we are residuals
of a burned out atomic sun
on perpetual percentages
ever since we have begun .
We dare to dream dreams
that can never come true .
So we pick up the pieces of our dreams
and say ,"Oh well , reality will have to do ."
Jan 25, 2015
Jan 25, 2015 at 8:06 PM UTC
i will cram myself into a goldfish bowl
because it's awkward inviting people to look at me if i am perfectly normal
maybe everyone will forget to feed me
and one day you'll find me belly side-up
or perhaps i will dig myself into the cheerios in my bowl
i need a life preserver
and there are several stacked up in there
maybe i will get bitten by a computer virus and morph into code that nobody can decipher
or maybe i will write a poem
and it will preserve a portion of my soul
(so that my ideas may die without such a struggle)
Sep 9, 2014
Sep 9, 2014 at 2:42 AM UTC
Coming home from a fair,
cusped between your lap
a globe of darting eyes,
your hands rested atop
the thin film of a world
as you endlessly peer in.
Are you scrying over
your future career?
Here a tungsten bulbous
body, a chunk of flame,
swills itself in spins
and mindless dances,
as you think you could
be so careless like them
to live hazily in a framed
bubble of treasured youth,
fed by some divine fate
looking over you. Golden
scales make your skin,
binds you as if you were
a chocolate in a wrapper
for people to circus over–
every flicker being edible.
Or maybe you're like
those tinned peach slices,
posing in a cage for all
as a marvel to feast with
until you end up rotting,
there in your tomb-space,
muttering an open mouth,
“help me” before they serve
you up on a silver-lined dish.
I assure you, you'll forget
these childish thoughts
of aspirations and dreams
sooner than you think:
no matter how much
you think they want you,
I'll bet they'll let yourself
drown in coming weeks.
Apr 20, 2014
Apr 20, 2014 at 6:15 PM UTC