Did the first creature to crawl
out of the proverbial, primal primordial,
onto the sand,
feel like a fish out of water,
out of its depth,
when high and dry on land?
With no wish to carp or cock a snook
I won't leave you in the lurch
but oh my cod take a look
what a plaice to perch
as just for the halibut
putting seahorses out to paddock
is enough to give one
a severely bad haddock
so no red herring I don't flounder around
take a peeled eel flake of baked hake
plus a pinch of pickled pilchard
and an ichthyic sandwich make
but if my words are vitriolic
you may grunt and kiss my bass
as it's all a load of pollock(s)
The sun having a frozen side~
a wish like a snowball in hell,
or netting the wind while oceans b o i l
in f i r e.
The rage of its heat needs curtailing.
I'm melting...
like chocolates and candles~
roasting like chicken in an oven.
How then
do I hide the cry of my fat?
With the frozen side of the sun,
snowflakes fall but never thaw,
painting my doorstep in white,
chilling my bones dry,
shaking my limbs stiff.
Birds hide their faces...
and songs become faint echoes in snow-draped distance,
while rasping hoots of early-rising snowy owls
mimic the whispers of restless winds—
announcing the coming of an impending
dark sky
that will not abate...
the ceaseless dropping of white flakes.
I'm b o i l i n g—
a tempest brewing...
not as a boiling frog syndrome
but like a fish out of water
in a slough of despond.
My skin scathes,
heat burns leave sores on my soles.
Long rays of shine pierced my sunshade;
sweat formed oceans on my skin.
And I w h i s p e r e d—
in the absence of ears~
"I need the frozen side of the sun."
When you find yourself stuck in a corner
You will turn and see rules spread all over
Soon be lost in the shuffle
Up the creek with no paddle
Missed the boat like a fish out of water
Someone gently rolls me over
Onto this white slab, belly down
And I wait ... like forever
Or at least it seems like forever, anyway
Above me is a mirror,
So, I turn my head and strain to see it -
In seeing Runic inscriptions there on my backside,
I try to read them but can't ...
I can't interpret their meaning
Then, this drill of light
Comes and hovers over me.
I flip like a fish out of water
And I'm blinded out of my body
I can remember it now -
I fell into a deep
Strange awareness
That I was being abducted by aliens
Or was coming to in the middle of surgery
I was exposed, naked, and scared out of my wits -
That's when I began to write
And I haven't stopped since ...
On the June 11th, 1963,
Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist Monk,
sat down in the Lotus position on a street in Saigon.
His fellow monks poured petrol on him as he had requested.
He sat there for a moment not taking a breath.
He nodded and set himself on fire and burned himself to death.
He was protesting against the mistreatment of Buddhists,
by the Catholic South Vietnamese government.
It is difficult to imagine what he was thinking in his last moments.
I trust he was saying a Buddhist prayer like this one:
“ Today has passed, Life is getting shorter ,
Like a fish out of water, nothing fun about that
Masses must be diligent, Let go the fire in the head
Just remember impermanence.
Do not let go of it, hear the bell, reduce afflictions
Greet wisdom, Leave hell, Escape ignorance
Save all beings from suffering ”.
Is this the age of Fire and Ice?
The time when men take up guns again,
Or will tomorrow see the glorious rain,
Forgo the need for Fire.
A Feeling So Fresh...
Ahh...! The streak of pain,
The rough floor
And the red stain.
How can I forget that agony?
They were five
And I was only.
They dragged me like a rucksack,
A feeling so fresh...
Not at all a Flashback...
The strong smell of alcohol,
The half burnt cigarettes
And their faces like a black coal.
I’s like a fish out of water
Repeatedly pleading
Like a stubborn beggar.
How could they listen?
Unlike humans
They were all demons.
Tightly, they tied me with a rope,
Not a movement possible
Breathing was only a left scope.
Unsuccessful to unwrap me,
They took a knife
And put cuts, one...two and three.
Echo of their laugh still agitates me,
The smell of their sweat
Is still chasing me...
One by one, they quench their thirst,
Good thing is that
They were fighting to be first.
They murdered my innocence,
Unbearable and brutally
Killing all my sense...
Leaving me, not less than a dead
Chained, in time coffin
Still trying to move ahead...
Keeping me hooked like a fish out of water.
On invisible line, i cant see.
You keep pulling harder.
When you first baited me in, giving me what i wanted.
Just to toy with my heart.
You threw me back into the water.
Reeling me in closer,
Almost so i could touch.
Just to hear those horrible words
You arent good enough.
Back to where it started.
Where i first learned to swim.
Lead me to another boat
With better fisherman.
No need for apologies.
Dont even bother.
My life is served at its best
Like a fish out of water.
Living off the grid..
I bid you ..
It's a challenge..
Living off the land..
For it's quite bland..
A taste of the great outdoors..
Mother Nature exposed..
Absolutely no power..
I cannot even take a shower..
Walk to the stream to fetch some water..
I feel like a fish out of water..
Always in my life I had it made..
Now I can't even get out of the shade..
The sun beats down..
I frown as I run for cover under a massive tree..
So I am free of sun burn..
Food is totally organic..
Which is fresh and pure..
That is for sure
Picking berries and fishing for salmon..
What a way to work up an appetite..
No technology had left it all behind..
Though I didn't think I would mind..
Life is simple living off the grid..
I rid myself of the everyday grind of urban living..
I bid it all a farewell..
Now I have learned how to survive..
So urban life can now take a nose dive..
Coconut mind
Practical
At first thought.
But all that lays inside
is the same milk you expected.
Sometimes the milk is worse.
My limbs flop around like a fish out of water
As I aimlessly do anything
Aimlessly everything
On my island
Alone.
I am able to provide myself something
Proud for a moment
Until I remember that everyone who ever loved me
Feels bad for me.
11 years old
Fortune cookie
I pick it up
‘Continue to sit’ it read
I took it to heart
I accepted every person
And hoped they would accept me.
Why would they?
All I have is spilt milk
Years of hammering my head
On my island
Alone.
Little Ila of warm Indian waters
was born without fins but with feathers.
“Fishes don’t fly,” they constantly told her
wings in water are just a bother.
Tightly she wound them close to her
and tried her best to keep up with peers
Oh, she once even tried to pluck out her feathers
so she wouldn't look like a fish out of water.
But as she grew, her wings became larger
and surely you realise, swimming became tougher.
Was she the only freak of nature,
she spent her time in depressed wonder
Then she met the turtle who seemed wiser
and gave her a dream of a sky up higher
There’d be hills and vales and trees and flowers
and an eternally bright cloudless summer.
The journey was arduous but nothing could deter
little Ila to defiantly labour up to the border
Then the sun shined in her eyes, struggle just a blur,
with a leap of faith soon she flew… out of water.
A merman had one stubborn daughter
who rebelled against what her dad taught her.
When she swam to dry land,
she could then understand
she was just like a fish - out of water!
For the Out of Water Poetry Contest of Sheri Fresonke Harper
I wander about
like a fish out of water
in the surf blue sea
Me a traveler
in the congress of gray rocks
where carcajous howl
A vacant lot mind
wavered in the breeze empty
land soul never rests
Heart sighs seeks haven
warm breasts of the beloved
in my country home
I see the river
boatmen singing love ballad
flows out of water
Out of Water - Poetry Contest
Sponsor Sheri Fresonke Harper
My Death Bed
My heart is with you
My thoughts are with you
My mind is with you
My feelings are with you
What is with me?
Just this body!
Lifeless, joyless, paceless
As far you go
As gloomy I become
My imaginations
Are stretched
And elongated
I feel like a fish out of water
And my conscious
Tease me repeatedly
By fishing in troubled water
I’m a patient
On the death bed
With your memories
I’m fed
It can be converted into
Life giving breath bed
Only when you come
And feed my heart
With your love nectar
In your heart I want
To live for ever
My Death Bed
My heart is with you
My thoughts are with you
My mind is with you
My feelings are with you
What is with me?
Just this body!
Lifeless, joyless, paceless
As far you go
As gloomy I become
My imaginations
Are stretched
And elongated
I feel like a fish out of water
And my conscious
Tease me repeatedly
By fishing in troubled water
I’m a patient
On the death bed
With your memories
I’m fed
It can be converted into
Life giving breath bed
Only when you come
And feed my heart
With your love nectar
In your heart I want
To live for ever
Day to day,
I watch you floundering,
Like a fish out of water.
The human and the mermaid.
Afraid of drowning,
He calls from his little island,
As the sea beckons.
Offering it's spoils
Torn,
You sit in the shallows.
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