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.