The Fish Who Drowned

A poem about questions, in the style of 'The Walrus and the Carpenter'

The Sun was streaming through the sea

Streaming like dissolved light

Its pencil rays a fiery blaze

That made the water bright

Along swam our merry Fish

A-whistling in delight.

 

He whistled through his gills, you see -

All the notes were bubbles -

With not a care upon his mind

And not a thought for troubles

He watched the dolphins swimming past

And waved to a couple.

 

At length a school of whales swam past

It must have been P.E

This brought him right back down to earth,

Or rather, back to sea

And he put on his Lesson-face

As gloomy as could be.

 

He tried, in vain, to remember

What they had learned that day

Was it Socrayfish? Or Plankto?

But try hard as he may

He couldn’t for the life of him

Remember what was said.

 

“Oh what a poor Student I!”

He vilified himself

“The only thing I remember

Is lunch, and that was kelp!

I’m really quite a failure

Gone beyond any help!”

 

“The time has come,” The Fish then thought

“To improve my brain

I’ll think of all that I’ve been taught

Or else, I’ll go insane -

Of why we don’t have to buy salt

And why it doesn’t rain.”

 

Presently his active mind turned

To much weightier things -

To why the seabed was so dark

And why the Mermaid sings.

Of the giant Macrocosm

Of paupers, sharks, and Kings.”

 

At length he began to question

Any and everything

Why he had scales, why he had fins

And Life’s very meaning

The only thing he was sure was

That he was Questioning.

 

“What is life? Am I alive?

He sighed and clutched his head

“Or is life but a really long dream

And we are really dead?”

Try as he might he couldn’t recall

What Aristurtle’d said.

 

“Oh, woe is me, O woe is me!

I’m doomed, and I know it!

This is the saddest tale I’m sure

Fit for any Poet.

O Philosophy! How very

Glad I was before it!”

 

So he came to the conclusion -

It popped into his head

“If I cannot prove I’m alive -”

His eyes swollen and red -

“If I cannot prove I’m alive,

Then surely, I am dead?”

 

This, unfortunately

Was the answer he sought

And, sinking towards the seabed,

He, once being, was not.

The questions ate up all his brain

And extinguished all thought.

 

The Questions, the Questions

They came, they came by the dozen

He thought he was, then he didn’t think-

Therefore he wasn’t.

Reviews

[r]

I'm not in the mood to review, but I couldnt help clicking on this 'cause I was curious. Please excuse the shortness, blankness of this review and how it doesnt really explain what I liked about this poem. Well, loved I should say.

It's witty, that's for sure, and I love the style. You are amazing and creative and have an amazing writing voice. I lovers it. I loved how he kept on Questioning and Questioning everysinglething until he just died. He was and then he wasnt. I love that. I've thought a lot of these questions myself, actually.

It was funny and witty, clever, yadayadayada. Im too tired to say more, but I love this. Forgive me? xD

[Mark Wallace]

Nice. I think the meter could be kept to a bit better. A line like "presently his active mind turned" reads a little awkwardly, the stresses don't fall right. Other than that, though, a clever poem, but also, and more importantly, with a nice sense of humour. I really related to the fish, as I also think too much, and it'll probably kill me in the end. That fish should have read some Descartes, cogito ergo sum and all. It might have cleared up some stuff for him.

[Thea Fuentebella]

socrayfish, plankto, aristurtle! very witty humor you have. this is definitely a uniquely rare piece. haven't read something this good in a while. ofcourse, this is my first comment after at least 2 months of disinterest.
WOW

[Kiri Nells]

Very interesting! There is so much truth behind the spiral of questions that we pull ourselfs into sometimes. "What is this? While we're at it, what is the word, 'this'?" and so on. I know what it feels like to drown in philosophical questions. I could really relate to this. Also, I love how you turned other great philosophers into seacreatures as well. "Aristurtle" took the cake. That was a good one.
Kiri

[M.Babu]

Was it Socrayfish? Or Plankto?...What Aristurtle’d said...
Your creativity is absolutely awing! How you came up with this is just astounding...i could stop laughing. You have skill man. Raw talent.

"He whistled through his gills, you see -
All the notes were bubbles -
With not a care upon his mind
And not a thought for troubles
He watched the dolphins swimming past
And waved to a couple."

This poem had a musical flow to it. I felt like i was singing along to one of those soft lullaby tunes...well that may just be me. It was pretty long but you ensnared your readers till the very end! Nice rhyme scheme. And a very entertaining read. This is a wonderful piece. Props for that!