1259. What is the pride of fish?
I mean, how do they look,
A proud fish?
With bearing, head held high,
A poised fish?
I mean, do they feel pride?
If yes, or just if,
About what?
1260. About their own strength, mobility,
Evolutionary excellence,
Ability to grow, to hunt, to evade,
Ability to spawn?
1261. About their knowledge of water
Their food, the enemy, the flock?
The shoal, the population, the speed,
Shiny scales, deep sea organs,
Anatomical perfection?
1262. Is it the curving spine,
The whip of the tail?
Streamlined organics,
The body coordinated
Into one movement, at once?
1263. Or is it a pride
About everything as a whole?
I mean, the domain of fish:
The ten thousand ways of water
To be lake, to be sea;
Enormous communities of beings,
Landscapes of water, air and light,
Freedom?
1264. Is that it?
Fish in their domain:
Pride and beauty in
Cascades of ecosystems.
1265. A proud fish,
A wise fish,
Gliding and feeling
Their way through water
In their colossal
Flickering lighted domains,
With the right to be fish,
The ability to be fish,
A free fish.
New in Index Ten Thousand:
Fish ◦ 1259, Shoal ◦ 1260, Deep sea organs ◦ 1261, Streamlined organics ◦ 1262, The domain of fish ◦ 1263, Ten thousand ways of water ◦ 1263, Pride of fish ◦ 1264, Free fish ◦ 1265.