The man holds a fish
and this small boy

swims on a floor
in a sea of purulence.

The man does not
see or hear the fish

speaking; he cannot feel
how it flapped and gasped.

The boy can only hear
his breathing as it

struggles in the cold
and hard waves lapping

like a pummelling, like
a punishment.

The fish is empty inside
and this boy survives.

The man still holds his
dead fish, but doesn’t

look it in the eye. He did
not understand anything.