A Shiny New Fish Poem by Jack Dylan

It started in the basement
A cold and dark mildew cave
With exit blocked and candle lit
Exists primal seclusion
And a place to bathe

In the darkness, where once was lost
I returned to sort my soul.
Hidden below this wreckage,
Rinse these sins,
And wash them down this hole.

Something happened down there
That much is true…
Or maybe it’s all a dream,
A quest for salvation perhaps,
But neither of us knew.

The hole got plugged,
But swallowed all it could.
A bellyful of black and oily sludge
Atop toxic remnants,
Floats a fish carved out of wood.

Days and weeks became months
But never the quite the same
The hole remains a scar,
And the demon has been contained
He was a familiar friend,
I think I know his name.

But what of the little fish?
The one that was left to dry.
Let’s just say he’s happy
Swimming out his days
Below a bright blue sky.

Jack Dylan
10/11/06