THE GOLDFISH

  
                                    --For Mabel Lemonie


Nothing could be more mongrel, more common
           than this five-and-dime store species
               of tropical, egg-laying tooth carp

             or brighter gold.  No fish is cheaper
               or hardier, able to survive fungus,
          chlorine, changes in temperature, and

             even the on-and-off care of a child.
                For two months no neighbor fed
        them; we came back half-dead from jet lag

         and found then thinner yet swimming in
                what evaporation left, a little
         puddle, black with plant decay.  A change

            of water, a pinch of dried shrimp and
       presto! starvation becomes perfect health.
      Always swimming, almost always searching

    for nothing more than food, these creatures,
        whether in tanks in American bedrooms
       or in ponds of Buddhist temples in Japan,

  calm and delight eyes and minds everywhere.
           For what is more striking or odder
      than moving gold, being, as we are, alive?

                                --Thomas Dorsett
                                First published in Roanoke Review.
                                Summer 1990


A recording of Thomas Dorsett reciting the poem:

Notes

The subject of this poem is the wonder and resiliency of life.  (It is dedicated to my mother, Mabel Lemonie, 1914-2001, who was quite wonderful and resilient herself.)  The content of the poem depicts events that actually occurred.  My wife and I, arriving home after a prolonged stay in India, discovered that our goldfish were suffering from severe neglect--Someone was supposed to feed them, but didn't.  They had done the best they could under very difficult circumstances.  With a little help, they soon were as lively and healthy as they had ever been.  One can learn a lot from moving gold!