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Paul Whelan

Fish, Singular

The last living fish

Drifts alone in its tank,

Darting from corner

To corner, searching

For something new —

Anything; some food

Or some kind of company.

It may recall a time

Surrounded by friends

And foes, all wiggling

And bustling about the

Freshwater, fighting for

Space and dodging

One another all day.

And now, only isolation,

Walled within hard glass.

The last living fish

Dives down to the pebbles

And nudges them aside,

Stirring quite a racket,

Digging to just get out!

Through the light,

Through the dark,

Its tiny mind drones on,

Drifting in the stillness

Of the solitary tank.

About the Poet

Paul Whelan is a poet and publisher from Sheffield, England. His work has appeared in anthologies from Valley Press and Greenteeth Press, Forge Zine, York Literary Review, and has been published by Renard Press and Ergi Press. He is the editor of Acid Bath Publishing. Find him on Twitter: @PR_Whelan.

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