He sees her in
that tiny cup
worse than
keeping a human
in a closet.
She’s a beautiful orange
plakat betta fish
weaving back and
forth and
peeking out of her
glass prison bowl
she sees him
her eyes saying
please, please
save me from this
horrible fate
she connects
with him
like what was
once called a
contact high
he hears her
picks up the bowl
takes it to the
keeper of the fish
who scoops her
out of the bowl
puts her in a
plastic bag
twists it secure
writes $15 on it
with a magic marker
hands it to him
he marches to the
registers and buys
the beautiful betta
takes it home and
gives her a beautiful
5 gallon home with
all the amenities a
betta fish likes.
Bob Boyd