Ballad of the Fish by JD DeHart

Ballad of the Fish 

he swam upstream

slapping his body against

fate

they called him Sammy

soon he wondered

what dry land felt like

and put on some sandals

flash forward

Sammy is married and has

two children (modest amount

for a fish)

he hides his gills in public

but they all know there’s

something about him –

you could say something fishy,

but that would be too obvious

Rita, his wife, especially

suspects his secret every time

they go the river

or to the ocean

or to the sink

she lives in fear that

what she suspects is true

and then also lives in fear

that Sammy will discover

her secret

she is a sharp-beaked

predator at war with herself.

JD DeHart is a writer and teacher.  His writing has recently appeared at Cacti Fur and Oddball Magazine.