terrariums and aquariums have they not the same purpose
entrapping things that live, that breathe
does the hibiscus want escape as much as the fish
or is it content because you only want to move if you know how

at the age of four I broke the fish bowl on my sisters table
unaware that the guppy couldn’t swim without water, prison was it's place to breathe
lying on the floor did it smile as death approached
when my friend ended her life last month I wondered the same thing, ironically

one of a human’s earliest realizations is that cages are a curse
time teaches you later on, sometimes so is freedom
so would you choose to die peacefully in a 9”x14” glass bowl
rather than swimming listlessly at the bottom of the sea

Tia Raj

If you have any thoughts on this poem, Tia Raj would be pleased to hear them.