HOPE

I told him I was lonely needed
something to love
next weekend he came
with a small azure fish
in a fish bowl with purple
rocks and plastic plants
put it on the table

I put the tip
of my finger into the edge
of the water
thinking
maybe I could train it
to love me
named it Hope

even though I knew fish die
like house plants without water
candle flames
prayers
and stories
I tell myself
of things immortal


© Joan Barton, 1999


Next...
Back to The Poems.