More Than Just a Fish

I caught your face
     before it drowned
     in the ocean of humanity.
It was an easy catch.
     I just cast out a glance
     and there you were
     quietly going at your own pace
     swimming in the streams
     others had shunned
     with easy confidence,
     as if you were something more
     than just a fish.
I stared in awestruck wonder
     yearning to reel you in
     to spill your innards
     and devour their mysteries.
I cut the line instead.
     It was the least
     I could do
     for someone
     so un-fishly
     as you.
Now I watch
     the others hanging on hooks
     smiling
     trapped in a place
     they thought they wanted.
You will never know that pain
     not because you could not
     but because you would not
     Be
     a fish.

May 1996