fish god

---

The doctor asks me to step on the scale,
& the stranger asks why I went to prison,
& both are trying to weigh me without any heavy lifting,

but only the doctor admits it.

The barkeep pours himself a shot of bourbon,
& the stranger asks why I went to prison,
& both are trying to numb themselves to what they hear,

but only the barkeep admits it.

The whole city buys tickets to feed the one-winged eagle,
& the stranger asks why I went to prison,
& everyone is just trying to see the mistake.

To behold a broken bird,
fascinate on a free thing flightless.

To squeeze a small fish, and quench a big appetite.

No one wants to think about the feeding,
except the little girl in line who demands to know what crime deserves this,
this dying,
this dying,
this dying
slowly for a show.

The adults ignore her, but fish hears.

fish prays she stops searching for reasons,

fish prays she finds cruelty reason-less,
fish prays she, big handed daughter of nature, mends this distortion.

but the little girl decides she wants to stay in line.

She rips fish flesh and prayer to feed the eagle,
& the stranger asks why I went to prison,

& both
are just waiting for a chance to wash their hands of blood,

but the stranger wants to stay in line,
and doesn’t know how to admit it.