The fate of a pufferfish
an inapt swimmer creates concentric modernist drawings in the sand
a vision of a future offering to a prospective mate
when a goggled-up
never-seen-before creature from above as large as the bull(ying) shark which roams from time to time the swimmer’s humble residence in the reef
passes by casting shadows of doom
the alien circles round and round
half in this world
half out
its shameful intention is refracted by the shine of its glinting mask
a mirror underwater
the foreigner comes closer and reaches out with its treacherous tentacles until it touches the swimmer’s body
this artist of a fish knows
there’s no time
the single resort is to inflate or he will die
and swallow the salty water the pufferfish does
until thorns appear both as a weapon and as a shield
it must have been the stress
the fear
the threat
that made seconds add on top of seconds
and seawater be swallowed in more than it should
oh-so-very easily
an internal flood ensued
and the ocean outside
now within
pressed against the swimmer’s organs
and pressure flattened them out
stiffly rigid
a perfect little spiky balloon floated
oh-so-very quickly
the once Romeo pufferfish
died from inside out
with no mate
only a message meant for a nest
traces of which currents will thoroughly erase even before the end of this day
stress kills
says the fisherman when he finds the inflated corpse flushed on the shore
