Friday 15 April 2011

All the little fishes


 (or ‘would anyone like some guppies?’)



All the little fishes are so precious,
even the ones who are no more than
two eyes and a tail.
I missed the bit you see, 
when I looked it up,
in the fishkeeping book,
that told you all about
the Guppy’s breeding habits.

I don’t know how it happened 
as I carefully read
the pages about habitat and feeding
and the do’s and don'ts of keeping them
It seemed so easy, then.
I selected, as suggested
several females and one male
And still I didn’t realise what was likely to occur
Though I’m sure you’ll think me very slow
in catching on.

So here we are, three generations later
And constantly I’m worrying
about the precious little fish
and saving them from their likely fate
of being ate by mum and dad
(and the whole extended family)
and also keeping up 
a continual supply
of Liquifry (No2)
a special sort of babyfood
for fish


Now I’ve got four fishtanks
but it’s not enough I know
for they number in three figures
and I also know, too late I fear,
that Guppies are called ‘millions fish’
for reasons that are obvious
but of which
I was oblivious
when I said, one day,
“A fish tank-
that would be relaxing,
and an undemanding hobby,
wouldn’t it?”

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