Craig, Mike

English

University of Montana

CutBank Volume 1 Issue 44 CutBank 44 Article 13 Summer 1995 At the Aquarium Mike Craig Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cutbank  Part of the Creative Writing Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Craig, Mike (1995) "At the Aquarium," CutBank: Vol. 1 : Iss. 44 , Article 13. Available at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cutbank/vol1/iss44/13 This Poetry is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in CutBank by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu. Mike CraigAt the AquariumQUEENSLAND LUNGFISH— ARRIVED AT THE COODER AQUARIUM IN 1933; THE OLDEST AND LARGEST KNOWN LUNGFISH IN CAPTIV­ITY. PLEASE DO NOT TAP ON GLASS.Another plaque talks about the other fishin with him: tiny thumb-sized orange and yellow Sizzlefishand a pair of roundish, slender fishlike blue raviolis flitting in and out of the rocks.But we don’t notice them, seeing only the lungfish, his heavy eyes, the occasional bubbles lifting away from his mossy nostrils.Today there is only one witness to the proceeding.She has lowered a long-stemmed white rose down into the tank. The lungfish has made his way over and, positioning his tremulous lips beneath the undulating petals, speaks thus:“My name is Richard.I was born in 1921 just outside Cleveland, Ohio in a lake called Erie.My fellow fishes are of the Dipnoi Order (or Dipneusti) having lungs as well as gills and capable of constructing for themselves mucus-lined mudsleaves in which to withstand extended droughts.”CutBank 44(He pauses for a moment.)“Feedbag is one of my favorite words.”(Brief pause.)“Do you believe in Justice?Or are you like me, seeing life as a series of insults and letdowns?These are troubled times, people.I was one of a dozen lungfish pulled from their mudsleaves. I had seen platters of stuffed mushroom caps and chicken Wellington...once I watched a woman soak her fingerin a ja r  of capers. There were cider stands along the country roads and little Jerry Khan took fresh eggs around in his bike basket.This was all before I arrived at the aquarium.It used to be you had the Good and the Evil.People had convictions.The Usage Panel was in the process of rulingout their beliefs about empiricism, nobody knowing wherethey were headed, and so naturallywe see a trend toward cultism and fantasy.”(Bubbles.)“Within the Dipnoi Orderthe hagfish is admired feverishly by the youthfor its jawless, sucking mouthand rasping teeth with which they bore intoand feed on other fish.And like roosters with our balls shaved off we move in confusion across the proverbial barnyard,CutBank 45forgetting about the questions.”(A long pause.)“Today I am 74 years old.As for all the unanswered questions only two remain: What is probably the fiercest of the Asiatic beasts of prey? andHow fast does the wind go?I am not sorry I came here, these thoughts sifting down to methe way a few leaves fall from a tree in autumn.”(The lungfish retreats.)The one witness to this, the waitress from a nearby diner on her break, puts her fingers to the glass and gargles.CutBank 46

At the Aquarium

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At the Aquarium

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