The Last Goldfish

They carried off the last goldfish today

Unceremoniously and in the morning hours

Before the children would be in

To see its orange body plucked swiftly

And dangled in a net

By a worker with the crack of his ass

Unsheathed to the world

Two years ago

-Just two years ago-

This man made pond swarmed with goldfish

They darted around plants

Pulsated as a well-choreographed team

Drifted like wildebeest on a Serengeti Plain

They carried off the last goldfish today

Wrapped it in a plastic bag and tossed

It into the trash

The pond was empty

The plants swayed as they did yesterday

The filters slowly sucked the water

Deep into their cores

The children walked by not noticing that the pond was empty

Rushing off to class

Or to play

Unaware that a last anything had ever been there

It was just another day

And more important things were taking place

Lessons were being taught

Plans were being made

They carried off the last goldfish today

Emptied the little trash into the bigger trash

Then got in their cars and drove home

Not thinking about this one goldfish who

Had swum alone for over a week

Slowly, forlornly, seeking bits of food

From a denuded landscape

Sometimes I ask myself who is responsible

For what I see happening around me

I feel Culpable

Like an accomplice in a global movement

That creates entitlements for my species

At the expense of all others

They carried off the last goldfish today

With no last words, without any regret

And I went home thinking

That if we can’t take care of the last goldfish

Then maybe we didn't deserve any in the first place.