A Poem a Day (133): Funeral for a goldfish

This poem is based on something that happened to me as a kid. My first pet that I was responsible for by myself was a fish. We went fishing with our nets in a stream and a little stickleback was my first pet. I didn’t realise that overfeeding is just as bad as not feeding. And one day little Pip met his end. Back then we put the fish down the toilet. I’m not sure if I was more upset by that or the fact that he had died. But I felt like it was all my fault. It was like the end of the world!

Funeral for a goldfish

The goldfish splashed out

Its final journey,

An undignified final leap

Into the toilet bowl.

I watched his orange fins

Looping the loop,

His little black eye

Saying a final goodbye.

I didn’t tell my dad

How I kept feeding him

Until his tank clouded.

Me, the six-year-old fish killer.

Copyright Vickie Johnstone, May 4, 2020