! ! The Fish And I Will Chat Poem by Michael Shepherd

Sometime it swims right up to the glass
as if it would talk with me –
opens its mouth, fixes me with a watery eye;

a moment when we can exchange silent thoughts,
about whether it’s better to be confined
in a tank, but free of all possessions,
compared with the freedom to acquire
so many possessions; or which of us
dislikes the more, a dentist’s waiting room..

nod and smile to know we both share
that joke about the fish in the water
never being thirsty; swimming in what
we take for granted; like, say, grace, or God..

so the fish flips its tail, is off; both of us
in agreement about freedom, meditation.

*

[leaning on Hafiz’ poem of that title]