“The Goldfish” by A.J. Huffman

The goldfish

echo the window’s pain. Contained,

held, prisoner of iconic juxtaposition.

Glass reflects glass, allowing clear and

unobstructed view of pond. Cup attempted

emulation of ocean can only crack

against the edges of reality, fade

into the background of misfortune’s foreground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(after “Goldfish Glass,” photograph by Herbert List)

 

 

A.J. Huffman is the author of seven solo chapbooks (including Inside the Walls of a Blackened Book) and co-author of one joint chapbook, published by various small presses. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the winner of the 2012 Promise of Light Haiku Contest. Her poetry, fiction, and haiku have appeared in hundreds of national and international journals, including Labletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, Kritya, and Offerta Speciale. She is the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press.