ZoeBee

I am not another fish
I am not here to bite your hook or to be pulled onto your boat
I'm not here to dangle from your hand like a prize in photos
To lie next to beer cans and big trucks and trophies and other fish

After the photos develop in a sweet smelling darkroom
They must be placed in gilded picture frames
Either hung up on an ornately wallpapered wall with gold accents and sconces
Or left abandoned on a mantle

The castle was hungry
Yes, wine was spilled down grates and crumbs fell behind walls and sometimes mice rotted beneath floorboards
But that wasn't enough because
The castle was hungry
Every day there was more decadence

First, the oranges are plucked from trees
And break off green stems, spraying blossom mist
You cannot hear their flesh strain as they're torn from their home branches
You do not see them crying
Crying zesty tears

Rise like the sun
When they have driven you back and forced you to your knees 
Rise like the sun
For the sun always rises no matter the march of night and it has to rise
So you have no choice but to rise like the sun
Or