Big Fish

by K. Kylyra Ameringer

How long you gonna crowd the pond

with your presence, big fish?

Don't you yearn

for the ocean, the big blue,

where the only road is the flow of fads?

Dive in and rip it up, baby.

Yeah, the tigers and sharks got teeth

that'll bite, bite, bite

with cynicism.

You ain't so big to them.

But you gotta try,

the why is easy;

that pond won't hold you no more, fish.

Hey big fish, who do you think you are?

A star in a puddle

ain't nothin' but a relfection,

a rejection of the light

you could shine.

Hey big fish, where you goin'?

Hidin' in the depths,

that same old stump,

sittin' on your rump and wasting time.

That's what big fish do.

You gonna stay in the shallows

and play it safe?

Don't you feel the need

to drop out

at the drop off

and swim, swim, swim?

Leap high and paddle hard,

'cause the tide's against you.

Tone your tail,

flick, flick, flick your fins,

and fare-thee-well.

You gotta go, fish.

Maybe you'll lose your home,

roaming so far you forget

your family and fishy beginnings;

maybe you'll be swallowed,

and find your hallowed words

aren't worth the spit it takes to repeat them;

maybe you'll find a school,

and be too cool to swim solo,

taking comfort in running with the lemmings.

You don't know til you try, fish.

Hey big fish, what you doin'?

Turning circles on your tail,

like a spinning top,

swimming round and round

and goin' nowhere.

Hey big fish, how will it all end?

Filleted and splayed,

displayed on a plate

and served to the public for easy consumption.

Yeah, that's what big fish do.