The Heart is a Fish

The Heart is a Fish

At home in the water
Golden scales
Like mirrors
Reflecting the sun
Heart thumping 
When caught
Mouth opening
In the cessation of breath
The pink salmon
Swimming tirelessly
In spawning excitement 
Struggling upstream 
Before the moment of death
The strange unseen below
That lurks in the dark waters
With sharp teeth
And odd fluorescence 
Attracting meal or mate
The tiny fish 
Thrown back
The elusive big fish 
In every story  
That evades capture
Just remember
There’s plenty more
Fish in the sea


Words: ©2020LCR
Image: No Claim. Mystic Mermaid iv - Shijun Munns
Submitted to: Weekly Scribblings #6 - Turn Cliché into Poetry

Comments

  1. Boom! This is always timely:
    The tiny fish
    Thrown back
    The elusive big fish
    In every story

    The lead up and closing nailed it. I love to drop cliches/idioms in my poems.

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    1. Lol. Me too. It's like little nuggets of truth. They may be old lines but they're still valid.

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  2. ~~~ great commentary on things as they are!

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  3. One of life's decisions --- do we want to be a big fish in a little pond, or a little fish in a big pond. Sometimes we spend a lifetime trying to find the answer! Loved your poem, love Munn's art!

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    1. Thank you! The artwork is beautiful. I like how you can look and see so many more fish in the water.

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  4. No two fish are the same, nor any two fish poems. On the grand scale (heh heh heh) of things, this one hooked me, kept me perched on my seat's edge. Well done.

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    1. Lol.... scale, hook, perch. Looks like I reeled in a good one!

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  5. And that is true. There's plenty more...Brilliant response to the prompt!

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  6. We can find wonderful things (or fish) when we remember this poem's last lines, and the swim that got us there. Yes, things can seem like a struggle when we try to get them done one way (or with one person). But there is always the possibility of finding better--if we are willing to catch and release.

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    1. I like that. Sometimes it's not about the fish but who's with you in the same boat.

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  7. That's why we should always just keep swimming, just keep swimming. You'll never know what new fish you'll miss out on if you don't.

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    1. Lol! Finding Nemo is a favourite round here!

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  8. That's so brilliantly done – wonderful poem leading up to and entirely justifying the well-known cliché.

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  9. finding meal or mate... be careful what you reel in!

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  10. This is absolutely phenomenal!! 💝 I especially love; "The pink salmon swimming tirelessly
    in spawning excitement struggling upstream."

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    1. Yes, I'm always amazed that they expend so much energy to reproduce and that's the end of their life cycle.

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  11. Oh, is the fish worth the hook? Love it!

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    1. Is the juice worth the squeeze? Lol. (I think Lemons and fish pair well!)

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  12. And... boom. A wonderful build-up to the punch line at the end. Well done.

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  13. I love the way this built up to its clever ending.

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