Fishing Trip in Gatsby’s

Fishing Trip in Gatsby’s

After a while leaning out over the balcony railing

and peering down

through strobes and dry ice

at the dance-floor

swarming with underage drunks

you swim back towards your seat

quizzing  yourself:

now that I have put my fist through the jukebox

and the sleeve of my finest white shirt

is a sponge of blood

what is the worst?

Are these people whirling beneath me

or are they only fish?

Are they only fish

gagging to be netted

And gutted by the bucketful?

And do fish have feelings?

You’ll answer these riddles in Gatsby’s tonight.

A fish or two will tell

how much or not it hurts

Though you'll goof for a while

on the way

the rotating lights warp

like spooky luminous fish

in a bowl

on the fat jags of a smashed pint-bottle

before flipping it over your shoulder

into the shòal

*****

Fishing Trip in Gatsby’s is from my 2007 Collection The Boy in The Ring.