Catfish
 
Oh cooped-up catfish in a cramped
Aquarium, fins tightly clamped
 
Together by the closing glass
That cruelly caps your growing mass
 
Your eyes are faint, your whiskers droop
Reliving trauma in a loop
 
The walls won’t let you turn around,
The lid won’t let out any sound
 
Your dead eyes fixed in silent angst
Turn crazy as if necromanced
 
If you could think, you would’ve wished
To have been preyed-upon or fished
 
The mat beneath the tank is damp
A shadow floats from one cracked lamp
 
Two fishlets in the dark débris
Are unaware of man’s decree
 
That they should spin and spin and wait
To bear your Sisyphean fate.

Wael Almahdi


If you have any thoughts about this poem,  Wael Almahdi would be pleased to hear them