Funeral for a Goldfish - Feb. 22, 2025

with her spirit long gone

her white tail slips in my fingers

she’s large, 10 inches

a bloated two pounds

I drop her into a double bag

knot it tightly

reminds me of the time I helped

two hospital assistants roll my

sister’s body onto a gurney

in a strange way they became

the same, bone and meat

covered in ghostly flesh

one will create tears

that drip on a casket

the other will be dropped

with a prick to the heart

into the trash