Fishface Poetry

By Sand Pilarski

Sometimes it's just limericks:

There once was a fishface named Betty
Who dined by the Santa Cruz jetty.
She said that she'd soona
Have dolphin-safe tuna
But could only afford canned spaghetti.

Oh, the southernmost beach of Kuwait
Was crowded by squids at its gate
And various races
Of happy fishfaces
Attending conventions for bait.

There once was a fishface named Brookes
Who was ripped off by numerous crooks.
She said, "As I call it
"It's always my wallet
"Unless they're admiring my looks!"

But then again, sometimes the theme is informative:

There is a land of sun and sand
Where arcane rites hold sway,
And to celebrate the island's fate
They set a special day.

"Our Ocean brings essential things,"
The priestesses decree,
"So with sacrifice must tribe entice
The Fish-Gods of the Sea."

The prayers and chants of sycophants
Their fervent ardor tell.
"We love the fish, and so we wish
To look like them as well!"

The songs of folk and incense smoke
Ascend in Time and Space:
"Oh honor me, Fish Deity --
Make me the next Fishface!"

And let's not forget the effect of Fishfaces upon classics...

(With apologies to Robert Frost, H.P. Lovecraft and Uncle Edgar MacCassar)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
But down one road a dim form stood
Demanding of me give him food
The sight of whom filled me with loathe.

He seemed not quite unlike a fish
Dripping, glistening upon the track
With manlike face he spoke his wish
He uttered once "Gimme sandwich!"
I screamed and ran and did not look back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
About how my heart and legs did race
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
Stood for a moment, eye to eye
With a hideous, bonafide, real fish face.

And one last limerick:

A Fishface who tried to improve
Drank a potion his scales to remove,
And poor Dr. Jekyll's
Chameleon speckles
Corrugated into a Hyde groove.