Simply on the grounds
That they're surrounded by water
And don't demand a splashy
Wedding for their daughter -
Just because they don't make noise
Bite little gulls, wrestle with buoys
Or pout when their drink is spilled
Or giggle when tickled or cry when killed
Or demand Intensive Care when they spawn
Or a poem set in granite when they're gone
Or for something full of fish-food act very wise
Or close their eyes
Is no reason to imagine that a carp or coddy
Hasn't as much right to be current as anybody.
Until rivers were spanned
And lakes were soiled
And oil was spilled
And inlets jammed
And some of them canned
And harbors spoiled
And ponds were filled
And streams were dammed
Fish with their cold hearts contentedly swam
With nothing more pithy to mouth than I am.
I am.