Suppose You Were A Moray Eel by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Suppose You Were A Moray Eel
Aimee Nezhukumatathilwhen ancient Romans kept glass aquariums filled to bubbling with your
brothers and old Licinius Muraena himself loved to throw slaves in the water,
where men were stripped to bits. You cannot help it—it’s in your blood.
Witches wear dresses made of your skin, sleek and gleaming. Don’t you see
how they preen whenever they pass a mirror? In the Ozark mountains, I
met a man who swears cooked eels turn raw if they are left uneaten and so
everyone—even children—eat them quickly. They don’t want to feel the slip
and bite under bed sheets that night. You move me. You move me anguillform
and backwards, zipping through the sea with only a quick-stop for shrimp
and other creepy crawlies. Your acorn heart sees the future—does it hold a
Valentine, Be Mine! or a glassy, spectacular car crash? I am mostly blind, like you.
Let us wait here in this coral cave and count the number of smelt that swim
by. Let them go, all of them. Wait instead for what your thin veins forecast,
what they decide to pulse for and where.
MARGINALIA
1.
Day 23 of The Sealey Challenge. Today’s offering is Lucky Fish by Aimee Nezhukumatathil.
2.
What I love about this book is that it draws on nature to explore the idea of happiness—how it is an elusive creature and often just out of reach. The poet’s attention to detail and her ability to find beauty in the smallest things underscores what we can find in the fleeting moments we might otherwise overlook.
3.
That being said, joy is not without its shadows—it is something we cannot fully control, subject to the unpredictability of the world. There is a sense throughout the collection that we can stumble upon it, yes—that it can arrive unexpectedly in our lives. Yet, there is also an awareness of how easily it can be lost. Ultimately, these moments are not guaranteed—they are gifts, not entitlements.
4.
The natural world, with its cycles of life and death, growth and decay, serves as a powerful metaphor for the celebration of the small, the every day, and the transient—reminding us that even in a life full of uncertainty, there is joy to be found if we take the time to look for it. Happiness, then, as presented by the poet, is not a permanent state but something that must be cherished in its impermanence.
KEEP READING
SOURCE
This poem appeared in Lucky Fish by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, published by Tupelo Press, 2011. Shared here with profound gratitude.
DESCRIPTION
“LUCKY FISH travels along a lush current―a confluence of leaping vocabulary and startling formal variety, with upwelling gratitude at its source: for love, motherhood, “new hope,” and the fluid and rich possibilities of words themselves. With an exuberant appetite for “my morning song, my scurry-step, my dew,” anchored in complicated human situations, this astounding young poet’s third collection of poems is her strongest yet.”
ENDNOTES
- Read more poems by Aimee Nezhukumatathil • Find books by this poet • Or view my library
- Explore other works in pursuit of: waiting • water • the self • Or browse the index
- This is part of The Sealey Challenge.
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