A Tale Of Two Fishes Poem by Don Winslow

One is shiny, the other is dull.
One is streamlined and smooth, the other is blunt and chunky.
Their names tell all—Silversides and Mummichog, aristocrat and commoner.

The Silversides is translucent with a sparkling silver streak.
The Mummichog is painfully plain, a muddy olive green.
Yet, the same brackish water holds them both.

There is one more difference, one that speaks of life…… and death.
The pretty, modeled Silversides dies within minutes of capture,
While the stubby Mummichog can and does live all day.

Is this a penalty for outward beauty?
Or is it a reward for a life of drab and dowdy?
Whether from Darwin, Deity, or Design,
There is mystery and wonder in this tale of two fishes.

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I see a lot of these fish during the summer when I volunteer at Assateague National Seashore. They’re both baitfish- Mummichogs (Killies) for flounder (fluke in NJ) and Silversides (Spearing) for snapper blues. Their behavior when caught in a trap is so different. I can keep Mummichogs alive and active on a tray, out of water, all day in a cooler. Silversides will die within minutes although kept in fresh seawater-probably from shock.