Fish

I am nine
Standing on
A lake dock as
A giant catfish tries
To breath with a rope
Through one gill tied to
The dock by someone too
Arrogant to part with their catch
Acquired not for food but for their
Vanity left to a slow death tied to
A pier struggling for each wet
Watery gasp for oxygen like
Myself when I heard my
Own death rattle from
Conjunctive heart
Failure sixty or
So years later
Though the
Fish is not
Guilty of
Too
Many
Hamburgers
And French fries.
Each day is a journey
Into the unknown sharing
Experiences learning what
Is right and wrong hoping to
Be a better person trying to
Ameliorate harm and the
Hate that ignorance has
Manifested not destiny,
Lincoln said the USA
Was the last best
Hope of the
World so
I follow
His
Advice
Trying to
Make this
Place an oasis
Of sanity and good
Manners since politeness
Is the oil in our national engine
And those who tie fish to pier
Posts and spread hate and
Rake up old fears & hates
Must be extirpated from
The body politic before
Like a cancer growing
They destroy our
Civility from fish
Tied to piers
To children
Locked in
Cages
At the
Border of
The last best
Hope of the world.