Captive (Poetry)

They pulled me from the ocean
on a wild and windy day
I was diving through the breakers
from a rock outside the bay
my ears were full of thunder
almost blinded by the spray
then a net appeared from nowhere
now I’m somewhere far away

I’m the star of this sad freak show
people come for miles to see
me performing in a fish tank
like some wind-up novelty
crowds press round — they sneer or goggle
comment disbelievingly
as though they think I cannnot hear it —
all the scorn that’s poured on me

They assume I have no feelings
that a fish can have no heart
they’re so thoughtless with their cruelty
but I sensed that from the start
for our salt-blood race is ancient
and we keep ourselves apart
from this other world grown ugly
human kindness a lost art

I am homesick for the ocean
I am dying scale by scale
this dull water can’t sustain me
colour’s fading from my tail
though I sing my hopes of rescue
like my flagging spirits fail
I’m a prisoner — just a peepshow
in this murky stagnant gaol

But there’s one — a boy who watches
in his eyes a deeper light
and he whispers his own secrets
when the rest are out of sight
he has webs between his fingers
teeth that glimmer pearly-white
yet I fear I might be dreaming
as I wait to meet the night

I hang on to spite my captors
and conserve my energies
I shut out the human hubbub
drawing on salt memories
my distress sends out a thought wave
clear across the seven seas
and I hear my sisters’ voices
blend in ocean melodies

With faint echoes come reminders
of the mighty rolling sea
how it calls to every creature
tells its timeless mystery
I am there in mind and spirit
turning tides flow back through me
and that pale boy who haunts this circus
knows my heart at least swims free ...