to live in a pond

pretty, like the world—
pretty, for a fish.
pretty, amidst the marbled moss-topped rocks
and the trickling water murmuring in.
how vast and wide the outside world!
how deep— how grey—
schools of a thousand fishes;
stalkers searching for prey;
thermocline currents sending fast
would-be parents on their way.
she sees it all from her glassy window
as schoolkids drop the koi food in.
“reality is here— in this world,” the others tell her.
“and what a wonderful world we live in!”
she lets out a bubbly sigh;
and turns her eyes she cannot close,
towards that circular, eternal sky.

reality is here,
she tells herself.
in *this* world.

and what
a wonderful world,
we live in.