Notes from an Aquarium

Three poems

Nico Smit/Unsplash

Sea Life (a vignette)

Her delphic gaze holds sway,
contemplating
some unknown folly
submerged inside
a fathomless trompe l’oeil.

Temple lost — she’s now merely
a prop for aquatic hoi polloi.

Move closer — look beyond
the reflections
of our shallow world.
See how that piece of old rope
dangles in the spotlight,
its golden arc in lieu
of an eel — whilst an overture
of purple fronds
wafts aimlessly to and fro.

The stage is set,
but the fish
have forgotten their cue.

**

Portrait of Ray

In the tunnel,
children point and shout
as the giant ray
steals past the glass.

Lugubrious ripple
from black to white,
the hem of a surplice
caught in a summer breeze.