NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 27 – get an aquarium they said…

get an aquarium they said…

I’ve spent three days boiling driftwood,
driftwood that the fish nerd at the pet store
said was okay to put right into my fish tank
driftwood that in a matter of hours turned 
crystal clear water that I’d spent weeks 
conditioning, blood red…the fish didn’t 
seem to mind it, did you know the tannins 
in driftwood are not harmful to tropical fish?
well, harmful or not, blood red is not a good look 
especially given the fact that I recently killed off 
a thriving aquarium community because I had 
the audacity to get a bigger tank so my fish  would have more room to do what fish do….
swim, eat fish flakes, 
swim…with me watching…
having a fish tank is so calming…I’ll be boiling 
driftwood again tomorrow…as long as it takes…
the driftwood is still bleeding red

~kat

NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 27 Challenge: write an “American sonnet.” What’s that? Well, it’s like a regular sonnet but . . . fewer rules? Like a traditional Spencerian or Shakespearean sonnet, an American sonnet is shortish (generally 14 lines, but not necessarily!), discursive, and tends to end with a bang, but there’s no need to have a rhyme scheme or even a specific meter.