The Fish

Do you remember the first time you were served fish with the head still on. There it was, presented to you and the eye of the fish looking straight at you, inviting a conversation, or at least a brief “hello.” I often to turn to Billy Collins when I am looking for a lighter mood, some humor or a new take on the obvious. Looking back through my many posts I was surprised to discover that according to my records I have not shared this poem before. If for some reason I am mistaken, then enjoy the second serving! Recall those experiences of eating alone, perhaps while traveling! Collins introduces the poem as follows – “Dining alone without the aid of a book to read or a cellphone to stare at is something of an art. The need in most of us for companionship can reveal itself through odd, compensatory behavior. Take this conversation I once had with an entrée. It was the fish who initiated the exchange, and hardly a word was spoken aloud, but I was clearly a willing participant.”

THE FISH

As soon as the elderly waiter
placed before me the fish I had ordered,
it began to stare up at me
with its one flat, iridescent eye.

I feel sorry for you, it seemed to say,
eating alone in this awful restaurant
bathed in such unkindly light
and surrounded by these dreadful murals of Sicily.

And I feel sorry for you, too —
yanked from the sea and now lying dead
next to some boiled potatoes in Pittsburgh —
I said back to the fish as I raised my fork.

And thus my dinner in an unfamiliar city
with its rivers and lighted bridges
was graced not only with chilled wine
and lemon slices but with compassion and sorrow

even as the waiter removed my plate
with the head of the fish still staring
and the barrel vault of its delicate bones
terribly exposed, save for a shroud of parsley. Billy Collins.
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Today I am posting words from a liturgy prepared by The Iona Community, in Scotland. This liturgy offers first words of a song If the war goes on, note its telling questions, then secondly a prayer for those caught up in the horrors of war, especially those in Ukraine and the Middle East. Please pause and pray these words and may God surround and strengthen us all in these awful times.

Prayer:
If the war goes on
and the children die of hunger,
and the old men weep
for the young men are no more,
and the women learn
how to dance without a partner,
who will keep the score?
If the war goes on
and the truth is taken hostage,
and new horrors lead
to the need to euphemise;
when the calls for peace
are declared unpatriotic,
who’ll expose the lies?
If the war goes on
and the daily bread is terror,
and the voiceless poor
take the road as refugees;
when a nation’s pride
destines millions to be homeless,
who will heed their pleas?
If the war goes on
and the rich increase their fortunes,
as the arms sales soar
and new weapons are displayed;
when a fertile field turns to no-man’s-land tomorrow
who’ll approve such trade?

Loving God, because you have the whole world
in your hands,
cradle gently those who are rocked by fear,
shocked to a depth they have never known
and frightened to face tomorrow.
On the people of Ukraine, Gaza, and Israel,
their children, their old people,
their vulnerable adults,
their babies soon to be born,
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.
On the people of Ukraine, Gaza, Israel
those who care for the wounded,
who sit with the despairing,
who witness and report
on the savagery and destruction,
who bury the dead.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.
Watch now, dear Lord,
with those who wake or watch or weep tonight;
and give your angels charge over those who sleep.
Tend your wounded ones, O Christ;
rest your weary ones,
bless your dying ones,
soothe your suffering ones,
shield your joyous ones
and all for your love’s sake. Amen