There are some very strange fish

There are some very strange fish

Swimming in the shallows

Lurking in the deep

Hiding in darkened caves

Waiting to pounce

On tiddlers

With separation anxiety.

Some pack a mighty punch

Have an electric personality

Razor-sharp teeth to compensate

For poor impulse control

Others swim with the crowd

Afraid to stand out

For fear of attracting too much attention

From the neighbourhood bullies

Who work as a team

To hunt down the stragglers

The waifs and strays who fall by the wayside

Too enamoured by the promise

Of a better life if they strike out alone

Take their chance to be a big fish

Believing the line they were spun

About outgrowing small ponds

To take basic precautions,

Use camouflage or survival techniques

To go under the radar

Deploy defence mechanisms

Learned from hard-nosed cold-blooded reptiles

Who know how to grow old gracefully

Dipping their toes in and out of the deep-end

As if they know the secret of life

When they just know how to breathe

More easily

In the open air.

Delinquent Cod with a Steve McQueen complex

Have even tried to fly

But they don’t get too far

Before they crash and burn

Attacked from all sides

In a frenzy of bloodlust.

There are some real sharks

In sharp grey suits

Waiting to take advantage

Of sad little clowns

Who want to

Live outside the box

When the truth is they are

Just as confined

By their environment

As all of the other little fish.