Growing up

in the big

-box store

I would watch

betta fish levitate

in tiny plastic cups

while my parents

collected dinner.

            I used to gaze at

            the shelves stacked

            with them in rows

            like a windowfront

            display of televisions

            select my favorite one

            on a weekly basis

            & wish, that by the next

            they would be gone

            & in deeper water.

K says that during

the hurricanes, his pet

store lost access to

their animals for weeks

that their bettas

remained still

in their containers

in two inches of water

            but did you know

            betta fish can breathe

            air & survive for up

            to fourteen days

            without food

            or care?

I tried to tell

somebody this once

& one day, somebody

else listened—then

just like that—

it was like we all

grew up, one by

one, while one

by one, all the

betta fish

            vanished