96. Poem for Monday: Billy Collins.The Fish
The Fish
Billy Collins
poet laureate of the United States 2001-2003
As soon as the elderly waiter
placed before me the fish I had ordered,
it began to stare up at me
with its one flat, iridescent eye.
I feel sorry for you, it seemed to say,
eating alone in this awful restaurant
bathed in such unkindly light
and surrounded by these dreadful murals of Sicily.
And I feel sorry for you too–
yanked from the sea and now lying dead
next to some boiled potatoes from Pittsburgh–
I said back to the fish as I raised my fork.
And thus my dinner in an unfamiliar city
with its rivers and lighted bridges
was graced not only with chilled wine
and lemon slices but with compassion and sorrow
even after the waiter removed my plate
with the head of the fish still staring
and the barrel vault of its delicate bones
terribly exposed, save for a shroud of parsley.
credit: The New York Times Sunday Magazine
placed before me the fish I had ordered,
it began to stare up at me
with its one flat, iridescent eye.
I feel sorry for you, it seemed to say,
eating alone in this awful restaurant
bathed in such unkindly light
and surrounded by these dreadful murals of Sicily.
And I feel sorry for you too–
yanked from the sea and now lying dead
next to some boiled potatoes from Pittsburgh–
I said back to the fish as I raised my fork.
And thus my dinner in an unfamiliar city
with its rivers and lighted bridges
was graced not only with chilled wine
and lemon slices but with compassion and sorrow
even after the waiter removed my plate
with the head of the fish still staring
and the barrel vault of its delicate bones
terribly exposed, save for a shroud of parsley.
credit: The New York Times Sunday Magazine
Tags: poetry
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treesparrow wrote on Nov 27, ’07
Very clever…. mind you I don’t like eating fish with their ‘heads’ intact… it does seem as if they are staring up at you…..
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lauritasita wrote on Nov 27, ’07
I came from the A & P with salmon for tonight’s dinner. I think I just lost my apettite. At least I didn’t get it with the head attached.
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