by Elyce | Mar 18, 2022 | winter
We have a fat fish
Right now
he is wedged under a piece of pretend wood
at the bottom of his aquarium
His extremely tiny mouth is opening like
a heart valve, again and again and again
In a rhythm making life happen
I’m waiting for him to die
Because he’s not really fat
He’s actually sick
About a week ago our other fish,
the one who had a crooked back,
floated to the top of the water
and didn’t move his mouth anymore
Then this guy just puffed up
His body, his stomach, has stretched out
Like a ball of sad is stuck inside
Before this, he swam around
Now he stays in one place,
either at the top of the tank
or down in the fake flora
I just went to look at him
At this moment, he’s resting on the rocks
Tail and fins still as a skyline
Only the mouth moving, opening, opening, opening
He looks like a horror movie
When his friend died,
I looked into the tank and saw
that the eyes had gone white
Cloudy
The little gills weren’t pulsing
So I scooped him out with a ladle
and buried him under the maple tree outside
After I put the dirt on,
I was afraid he wasn’t ready,
so I dug him back up
To make sure he was fully finished
He didn’t move
He was covered in soil
I buried him again
Poured some water on the tree
Told him he was a really good fish
Oh my god
I just checked on our fat fish again
He’s caught in the plastic fern branches
The little mouth is panting still
His black eyes are enormous,
glossy and half silver and pleading
I drew a heart for him on the glass
Where he is facing
Now I will wait with him
Play music as the night goes on
Because I think tomorrow he will not hear it
I will bury him at the maple tree too
by Elyce | Mar 18, 2022 | bad boyfriend
Her face is like a paper bag. It’s a face you see behind a cash register, mechanically pushing numbers and counting quarters and always reminding you to “have a wonderful day.” Her paper bag face has that standard red writing, something like “Come see us again soon” or “Join our membership rewards program.” Like you see it, and also don’t see it at all. So, I call her Paper Bag.
Anyway, Paper Bag is asked to restock the shampoo and it is a task she knows she will master. She has a plan for the shampoo so that the prettiest ones will be right in the center. She has on her red “I Work Here” vest and brings all the boxes of shampoo over to the shampoo aisle. This will be a masterpiece.
There are customers in the store and even though they don’t see her, they like that she is making her task into something pleasing. They will appreciate that all of the bottles line up.
“Oh, hello, ma’am,” says a customer. “Can you help me find diapers?” She looks up from her boxes. She knows exactly where the diapers are. “I can!” This is gleeful. “How is your day, sir? You’re going to want to head over towards the laundry and pet food. Right over here.” She does a little point with her finger to show him just where to go.
The customer watches her and then he feels better. “Oh, right here! Thank you, ma’am.” She does a little swivel and heads back to the shampoo.
This customer is also forgettable. He is also a paper bag. But in this moment he is not. He is brighter. He is now cheered by this girl in a red vest. He swivels in her direction and thanks her again. “I appreciate it!” he says and now he knows that he will have diapers and this will postpone an argument with his wife.
Paper Bag spends two hours arranging the shampoo. Her manager is slightly stunned at how she has taken on this assignment. Maybe Paper Bag should arrange the makeup tomorrow. Her manager now feels more pride wearing her manager-red vest. Maybe she is a good manager, seeing the potential in her employees.
Paper Bag knows she is doing a good job with the shampoo. She is maybe the best paper bag in the store. Next time when this manager sees her, and the next time a customer comes in looking for diapers, Paper Bag will look different. She will have redefined paper bags.
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