Tale of a goldfish and unspoken wish

Last time I pulled a goldfish out of water

I thought that Russian story was banal.

For what’s a fish against a human daughter?

Yet, verses of a fish have stormed my wall.

-         How many wishes can you grant me, fish?

-         Just one, but you must choose with care

-         Come swim with me until you know your wish

Said fish and smiled well; it was a fair dare.

His smile could slay a hundred hordes,

I plunged inside beside him, to abyss.

There was no dream beyond Arcadia walls;

No deed or wish undone had gone remiss.

And for a while, I enjoyed illusion,

Of lacking purpose and no goals to meet,

I sang and danced around the pond’s seclusion

Fish smiled smirk that felt a real treat.

One day he took me to an ancient pool,

Where time displaced in rivets at the shore

There were no trees or sun, no aim or rule,

Just empty silence and it was a bore.

- It’s time, he said, for you to ask your wish

Or you can stay the same way for a while

The choice is yours to make; I’m just a fish

And fishes swim, but humans dream in style.

The pond grew dim, the winds began to roar,

I heard an eagles cry beyond the wall,

Wishing a lot had proved to be a chore,

Wishing a little hardly worth the call.

We swam in circles, tired of disservice

We did to time; I floated like a cork,

He dove and only once resurfaced

Inside a cave where stream broke into fork.

The left brook marked a secret passageway

Foretelling channel of a lone crusade

I feared the ennui of a life without Cyprinidae

But he had hid again; I knew he was afraid.

The river to the right was calm and deep

I dipped my toe and felt its eerie still

I sensed inside it I would be asleep

And chose the stream that ran uphill.

I did not wait for goldfish to resurface,

Thriving in water garden of a fairy verve,

It made me wait until my wish lost purpose,

Too ripe to toss, too spoiled to preserve.

And crossing over foothills in the distance

I found a path untethered and unmanned

Through underbrush, without much resistance

I reached a peak untouched by human hand.

On mountain top, in stone, above the ocean,
I carved my wish out with a blade of steel;
As days go by, perhaps a lone Laotian
Will find my mark under his coarse bare heal.

Atop the world, where icy snow keeps heavens,
Where winter light shines on infrequent crane;
I left it here - Minoan unearthed by Evans,
Bronze Age, unseen by pilgrims of Tibetian plain.

Although in fairy tale, my name will never surface
A goldfish cannot swim up mountains through a steppe.
My wish is carved in stone, it shines for those with purpose
For those who dream of sun and climb with steady step.