Tag: gold fish

The water going dark only
makes the orange seem brighter,
as you race, and kiss, and spar
for food, pretending not
to notice me. For this gift
of your indifference, I am
grateful. I will sit until
the pond goes black, the last
orange spark extinguished.
~Robert Peake from “Koi Pond”

 

The fish slow in winter sleep,
resting on the pond bottom,
needing nothing from above.
Their fins and tails sway in passing
of the current yet
they remain stilled,
a stark orange smudge
in the cold water.
When morning comes,
the fish bleed out orange
to reflect the overhead dawn
that tries in vain
to stir them back to life.
A spark extinguished,
their pilot flame turned low
until the reignition
return of longer days–
the hopeful promise
of spring.