The Two Worlds of the Four-Eyed Fish
Above I see what’s clear and dry,
The birds that swim the sea blue sky,
The crabs that drift and come to die,
The roots that rise above my eye.
I also know a world that flows—
Where sunlight sways and algae grows
On roots that hide the friends and foes
Who ride the rocking dim below.
The Four-Eyed Fish actually has two eyes but each eye has two parts–the top part is adapted to seeing above the water and the bottom part is adapted to seeing below the water. They swim along the surface looking at both worlds simultaneously.
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(c) 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved
What a fascinating fish. This is a beautiful poem.
I love the rhythm of this poem.
I’ve never heard of this fish — fascinating. I’ll have to show that to the kids when they get home.
LOL I was going to say Fascinating!!! then I saw the other comments… I’ll have to say it’s amazing. Stupendous image of perspective!
I love the idea that this fish sees two worlds. Nice job!
I love the poem. And I went to your previous post because I saw the cat looking out the window…thought you had taken a picture of our cat looking out the window for a minute there.
The imagery, the flow, the wordplay…really well done, Liz!
Wow. (to both the fish and your poem)
Wow, what a cool adaptation. Favorite line: Where sunlight sways and algae grows
Lovely to hear this spoken, Liz. It is so quiet, as I imagine the fish to be, gliding along, looking, looking.
Thanks Everyone,
I have been fascinated by this fish ever since I saw it at the little DC aquarium years ago.
I’ll have to go back and look for other interesting little creatures to write about.
Liz
cool poem, Liz. Never heard of this fascinating fish before. You captured it’s unique perspective very well.
cool poem, Liz. I love the arty take on perspective this poem provides. Nice work!
Hi BJ,
Thanks for visiting my blog!
Liz