en4

The Poet and the Fish

by Artem Ocheret

[A poet sitting alone in a rubber dinghy in the middle of the ocean]

- Amidst the gray and stormy sea
I was alone and lost.

-(fish) I see.

- you cannot speak, you're just a tuna!
Yet in my head like you're a tumor...

-(fish) You made me speak, so you could bear.

- A task that has roots in despair. 
Oh well, where was I?
Yes, the sea. Alone and gray.
A manatee.
My ship has wrecked.
My friends - all dead.
I'm terrified and filled with dread.

-(fish) the sea was calm,
The night was bright,
The moon had filled the deck with light.
You were on watch duty if I'm right.

- it was a rogue wave!
Deadly silent.
Destructive like Poseidon's trident!

-(another fish) it is your fault, there is no doubt.
But what do I know - I am a trout.

- keep silent fish!
Now where was I?
My friends are dead...

-(fish) I heard them cry.
Before the water filled their lungs
They cried how much they hate your guts.
And how they'd love to see you dead...

- enough! Get out of my head!
My friends are dead, I'm filled with dread.
My love, my worship was aboard!
Oh, how I wish she hadn't drowned.
I'd fight the waves to come around,
I'd put my raft on full alert,
Yes, I would spot her in the waves,
Her pretty head, her waist, her feet....

[Fish sharing a look with eachother]

I'd reach in with my mighty hand,
We'd look into each other's eyes...

-(fish) among the drowning sailors' cries.

- I'd whisper: "Rose, I love you mad!"

-(fish) You know, by that time she'd be dead.

- no, I would pull her fast aboard,
I'd warm her up, I'd give my coat!...

-(fish) a shark, it ate her lower half.

- down from the waist?!

-(fish) yes!

- oh fuck!

-(fish) you know, you are a funny fella.
[To other fish] hey, are you hungry?

-(another fish) more than ever!

[The fish latch onto the rubber dinghy. After a moment of struggle the evil fish tear a hole and  air escape with a audible fart sound. The poet finds himself sitting in a public toilet]