Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GOLDFISH ON THE WRITING DESK, by MAX BROD


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GOLDFISH ON THE WRITING DESK, by                    
First Line: In front of our mouths, wherever we swim
Last Line: The two dark eyes go to and fro.
Subject(s): Goldfish


In front of our mouths, wherever we swim
There is always glass, and something dim,
Something foreign and fathomless
Like a far storm's shuddering heaviness.

There are little green leaves about us here,
Through seaweed forests our way we steer
Among delicate threads and slime and light.
Then we are still, not grasping quite
The voice of home, sounding out of sight.

A little push and there is the wall,
We trip, we tremble, prisoners all,—
And again the strange power, that never breaks in,
Ruling through walls so firm, so thin.

O sorrowful circling in this small room;
Iridescent-eyed, we stare at our doom.
Pale colors before us towering bloom,
The vast paper, a roaring sound.
Perplexing us, from the dim profound.

Now toward us, through the turbid veil,
Across the inkwell bends something pale,
It dazzles, close to our dwelling-place,—
The huge, sorrowful human face.

It lies as the pale moon lies on the sea,
But in its whiteness, heavy and slow,
Flickering, blind with captivity,
Moving as fish move, restlessly,
The two dark eyes go to and fro.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net