The Girl in the Fishbowl

Where has she gone?

The girl in the fishbowl?

Everyone loved to see

Her swim so sadly,

A lonely mermaid,

A goddess among the other small fish.

The aquarium stands

Sparse now

Beyond the cluttered checkout

To the right of the exit at the Chinese café.

But I didn’t see her

When I stood in line there

After lunch, as I waited to pay.

And I noticed that others,

As they chatted casually,

Mentioned the fish girl’s abandon.

Her post is so vacant—

The big tank so boring—

Now, with the fish girl so gone.

Where has she gone?

The girl from the fish bowl?

No one seems to know.

I hope she’s found a real life somewhere,

Where none of these customers go.

-jenn long