and we’re in the make-a-wish room at the aquarium
‘cause i have to feed our Louie, settle the tubes that
run in from him and out from him. and ‘cause your
hands got all dirty. in his morphine haze, all he wants
is to go and see the big fish again. the biggest one, in
the history of the world.
so, we roll the chair down. this part takes time, you
and i hand over hand, Louie, rattle-coughing through
the tropicals in their summer vestments and the priests,
who are penguins. who mate for life.
and then there they are: two of them, yin-yanging, wide
jaws set open, breathing. did you know that in the wild,
whale sharks are solitary creatures?
but these two, by the hands of their captors, sway side
to side. for better or for worse, they’re in there, circling,
playing house around the grouper, the stingray, the reef
brushing against visitor’s faces, mottled reflections. so,
maybe they’re in love. that’s what Louie says. and then
he seizes up so we go back to the make-a-wish-room
and then we go home.
‘cause i have to feed our Louie, settle the tubes that
run in from him and out from him. and ‘cause your
hands got all dirty. in his morphine haze, all he wants
is to go and see the big fish again. the biggest one, in
the history of the world.
so, we roll the chair down. this part takes time, you
and i hand over hand, Louie, rattle-coughing through
the tropicals in their summer vestments and the priests,
who are penguins. who mate for life.
and then there they are: two of them, yin-yanging, wide
jaws set open, breathing. did you know that in the wild,
whale sharks are solitary creatures?
but these two, by the hands of their captors, sway side
to side. for better or for worse, they’re in there, circling,
playing house around the grouper, the stingray, the reef
brushing against visitor’s faces, mottled reflections. so,
maybe they’re in love. that’s what Louie says. and then
he seizes up so we go back to the make-a-wish-room
and then we go home.
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M. Anne Avera is a writer of Southern gothic prose and poetry from Auburn, Alabama. Her work has been featured in Waxing + Waning, Third Wednesday, The Awakenings Review, and others. Her debut collection of poetry, Complete and Total Honesty, is now available through Neon Origami Press. You can find her at writeranneavera.ghost.io.
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