My Secret Goldfish

My secret goldfish

gulps water and hunches his shoulders

February is his favorite month

My secret goldfish

trembles and shakes or flutters like a spent parachute

He knows he is a beastie of the heart

My secret goldfish

knows that pigs and apples conspire

He prefers the window that looks out at the windmill

My secret goldfish

thinks I am always in confession

Being too much in the sun is his only season

My secret goldfish

tows a skiff until the morning of the third day

Lions on the Beach is his favorite painting

My secret goldfish

never cheats at golf or wears teeth for cufflinks

He once thought a tetra gave him the green light

My secret goldfish

gets oxygen from a pump

Cancer is the unavoidable love goby of his destiny

My secret goldfish

nibbled a gob of potted meat dropped into his bowl

He was the point of sale of an aluminum legged pet shop girl

My secret goldfish

never grew up

Pirates and fairies inspired each flick of his tail

My secret goldfish

not much of a secret anymore

I put him in a letter addressed PO Box 32 Windsor VT