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Alex’s shirt is so old-school,
that it’s almost new age.
It’s fabric is home to many a fish,
swimming around his shoulders and sleeves.
I like fish in more ways than one,
I like them as dinner,
but never as lunch.
I like them as friends,
but never as lovers.
I feel that fish live a fortunate life,
they don’t feel sad,
or feel pain,
they aren't even aware of their surroundings.
They hang out in schools,
but oddly,
they never learn anything.
Ignorance is bliss,
fish are lucky this way,
and even though fish are uneducated,
I like to think they each have their own stories.
People say fish can’t be happy,
but I've never met a depressed fish,
and there is something to be said about that.
A.P. Beckstead (2012)
it's auto Jun 2015
(after dean young)

“there are some parts of the human brain
even carps spit out.”
but the amygdala births worms
which the fish chew quite sweetly. what isn’t
here: one un-slipped stream, one un-swissed
memory. what is: encephalitis, beetle-black shadow
in the water’s meat. some questions prompt answers
like mouths and feeding. ask yourself why fish bones
are like angels if it isn’t their getting stuck
or the filigree. ask yourself why the first words
of a poem are the skin of an unfathomable ocean,
or why you can only ever think about bodies
and feeding. in the throat, i forgot to say. i take
a layer of algae off the table before sitting down to tuna
and the soup in the coffin that is the kitchen sink.
ask yourself: if the water pressure’s been gone for weeks,
why is your hair always soaked in the morning?
inspired by dean young's poem "gray matter," from his 2005 collection.
arubybluebird May 2016
last English class of the day, hoodie on, earphones on, Modest Mouse Ocean Breathes Salty, sun half-way down, subtly setting, slight breeze, hold down hoodie as I walk, half-empty parking lot. a lot of halves. many things empty, never the mind. language is strange and fascinating. there is a single brown leather boot in the center of the freeway’s entrance cross walk. I notice this, it moves me. lost soles in the city. I image myself getting run over by a passerby, a single navy Sk8-Hi left behind. everything is a story. Del Taco drive-thru, two-for-four fish tacos, I’ve given up on any other kind of meat. Pescatarian I’ll tell them from now on if they ask. It doesn’t make anything better, it doesn’t undo what’s already been done, but at least I’m not contributing to the damage. At least I have that choice. Teenage girl in red beanie, black Adidas joggers, spray can in hand. It is Thursday, this is the city I live in. The Strokes released four new songs today, I signed up for their mailing list. I might go out for dinner later on, but until then I’m not anywhere else.
Dave Robertson Mar 2022
Sometimes, tides behind teeth get stuck
as if the moon, distracted,
looses its inexorable pull

then all the weight of water
sits stagnant
while each pescatarian thought
from the zipping, inconsequential minnow
to the ponderous whale bulk
sulks, sick and stuck

If you see these green gills,
or the overspill in the eyes of those
you know
maybe sit awhile, harbour side
and cast a line or two
Riz Mack Mar 2019
They say good things come to those who wait
And only fools rush in
But I missed the boat the other day
While sitting on the fence

They say hands so cold
Tell of hearts that are warm
But that can't be right
What I feel is a storm

They say two wrongs don't make a right
And what goes round comes around
They say shoot for the stars
But keep your feet on the ground

They say there's a window
That can see to the soul
But if that is the case
Mine's surely a door

Out of sight, out of mind
Out the picture, out of time
Out of luck, out of touch
Out of order

But don't cut any corners
Haste makes waste
The first cut is the deepest
Cut straight to the chase

They say knowledge is power
Ignorance is bliss
And practice makes perfect
(what about a kiss?)

They say life is what you make it
And there's plenty fish in the sea
But I'm no pescatarian
Just bark on the wrong tree

They say the rotten apple spoils the bunch
But it doesn't fall far
So take a leaf from someone else's tree
And always follow your heart
We say some pretty dumb stuff
Qualyxian Quest Apr 2023
I wasn't blown away
By the Duino Elegies
But he's right about beauty and terror
Was in Vienna for 3 days

I like German food
But I'm pescatarian now
Only vegetarian sausage
Never drank much beer

The doc called it Meniere's disease
Vomiting, vertigo
Comes a Rattle and Hum
Tinnitus in my right ear

Arapahoe. Seminole. Apache.
Shawnee. Pawnee. Stays.
Thomas Builds the Fire
Burning, yearning quays

                   Cays
Ryan O'Leary Oct 2019
Downing Street historically, is
a convenient mix of amnesia &
Etonian arrogance syndrome

The Good Friday Agreement
is not about the traditional
Catholic 5th day fish abstention.

Ireland has moved on quite a
ways from that, Pescatarian's
are a minority now, since Tofu.
Qualyxian Quest Dec 2022
I'd like to live in libraries
Maybe she studies my story
Maybe she smiles twice
Maybe a little glory

I think my green eyes matter
Hey batter batter
Pescatarian platter
Hakeem the Dream and Robert Horry

Europe was quite wonderful
Stockholm, Helsinki, Paris
Commander Jason McTaggart
Overcoming Sarris

I'm awake at 5:03
Dublin meant to be
Taco truck? Si. Si!
Rickey Henderson and Roger Maris
Ryan O'Leary Jul 2018
Brexit.

Britain is the bottle
and they’ve got you
by the neck.

Remain is a ship
where in Calais
it will wreck.
      <>                      
Pass on to 60,000,000 Brits,
      <>
Alcoholics Anonymous say
a Muslim UK will be bad for
business.
Bob was the name of Mr. Wilson's goldfish.
He drank all the water in his bowl &
died of dehydration.

   Bill Wilson said the fish converted to Islam
   before he died, also that It was the first case of pescatarian
   extremism in the world.
Qualyxian Quest May 2023
Took two years of Latin
Wasn't particularly good
Honeymoon in Rome
Fr. Reginald Foster could

John Byron Kuhner
Angel of New York
I am a pescatarian
Salmon but no pork

Sophia University
I would like to go
Little Sage Ridge School
Grey sky Reno snow

Susan Darlene Meek
Black hair but blue eyes
Trappist monasteries
Exoplanet skies

        Ay! Ay! Ay!
Qualyxian Quest Jan 2023
Thomas Aquinas was silent at the end
It seems that he had a stroke
I answer that silence
Is a kind of holy hope

Theology a curiosity
What the hell are they talking about?
All my Catholic cousins
Makes me wanna shout

Mr. Sandor Marai
Suicide in San Diego
Embers in my mind
Fire not gone out

Dinner in Vienna
But I'm a pescatarian
Can't eat the sausage
But I have some sauerkraut

              All have doubts
Qualyxian Quest Oct 2023
California snow
San Francisco Zen
O the isolation!
3710

Gotta work tonight
Washin' ***** dishes
My fantasies are female
All those ***** wishes

Life is not a fantasy
Not what we would wish
I guess I'm pescatarian
I eat salmon and tuna fish

I keep writing because I ...
And I also ....
Winter is coming again
See you in the snow

                  lo!
Qualyxian Quest Feb 2023
So she tells me America is a Republic
But not a democracy
What has she been reading?

I tell her this is craziness
I fear for the future
Pescatarian feeding

I love American music
But hate American strife

1 woman troubled Thai
2 women not my wife

I want her to hold me and I cry
Cuts Like A Knife

Little Sage Ridge School
My little lonely life

                Santiago!
Outback steakhouse for dinner
But I'm a pescatarian
French Onion soup
A little brown bread

Basketball on tv
A few people at the bar
Life goes on until it doesn't
I wonder what she said

6 days without *******
Grateful for abstention
Washington convention
Father Greeley is dead

I like the beach at Charleston
Jewel of the South
Something brave from your mouth
Travelin' Soldier in my head
So I'm a pescatarian
I still eat tuna and salmon
O ye Americans!
You can't worship God and Mammon

Lost in Translation
Found in my home
Sunlit Italy
Honeymoon in Rome

           stately pleasure dome

— The End —