preparations for life and love

we named

the goldfish Fred, at the insistence

of my daughter

Julia.

it lasted

three days before

we found

it floating on top of

the water,

no longer swimming

vigorously

about.

i found out later that

there was

a boy in her class named Fred.

there were no services

for Fred,

no shedding of tears.

just a kind

flushing

back into the sea,

or so i told her.

she responded

not with grief, but

with a shrug of the shoulders

and a request

for another goldfish,

name yet

to be determined.

maybe this one will last

longer, she said.