“Goldfish swim in Hell”

This poem was submitted by a Year 9 Student, JT, for World Poetry Day next week.

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Goldfish swim in Hell

their marine polyester tails wave around
like flags of Defeat.

Goldfish swim in the hells below
blue, brown, green: their eyes flash in the sun

falling. are those planes or is it the heat covering the battlefield
they seem to light the land.

and once the fighting for food is over
one dive to the bottom of the sinful fish tank
they seem to have forgotten they had just eaten

One may suggest Goldfish do have the ability to retain memory
and I would humbly reject the argument
though I do feel some level of sympathy for you

It must hurt to be at the bottom of the glass
only seeing the scarred bellies of the soldiers
their blood(?) staining the heroic home(?)

but sometimes, it does get infuriating 
the heat seems to make me hallucinate

as if I can see legs and fingers
sprouting from the goldfish
crawling at the bottom of the cage.