Of Fish and Men

Of Fish and Men

Stephen Grimes

I watched my fish
dart about
the little bowl,
his will, if any,
confined by the glass
he doesn’t know is there.

I imagine God,
a great billiard player,
set up the master shot
on an endless green table.
With one shot,
the universe set
in motion forever
with no deviation.

The balls would forever
strike each other
and fall in the right pockets.

When I was three,
I liked to eat dirt.
They warned me
about the germs;
they sought me,
ever since, to kill me.

They told me
I would die someday,
and my three-year-old joy
never returned.

But I often forgot
about my doom;
I didn’t think
It would be
today or tomorrow.

I was caught
in space-time,
which had its way
with me and changed
me, leaving only a few
memories, and sometimes
I remember things
that never happened.

But I wanted to be predestined,
and I wanted freedom for my will,
and I wanted responsibility
with no duties.
I wanted fame and anonymity.

One wise man
said everything to be
has been,
and God requires
an account
of what is past.

If my fish chooses,
he gives no account.
When his spirit leaves,
it will not come back.

---

Stephen Grimes
Retired Lawyer & Poet

Stephen is a retired lawyer who lives with his wife Carol on twelve acres in a rural community near Birmingham, Alabama. This is his first poetry publication. 

Photography by Han Xiao