She is puckered up like a strange kiss
in the mourning jet of midnight’s pond.
She quivers her fins, a shimmering silver moonfish
in a Piscean circle, meeting herself mirrored
among ripples, before she sinks like a stonefish
into sad little couplets of morning.
Kim M. Russell, 28th July 2025
It’s Monday and time for us to write quadrilles at the dVerse Poets Pub. This week Mish is our host, and she asks us to write poems of any style with exactly 44 words, not including the title, which must contain the word ‘fish’.
Mish has not only given us a whole list of words to play with, she has also shared a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, ‘Famous’, which includes the line ‘The river is famous to the fish’.
writing in north norfolk 
This is beautiful, Kim!
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Thank you so much, Nolcha.
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Kim I liked the words you used in here, like puckered and moonfish. She sounds a lot like me before I have my morning coffee.
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Smiles.
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That opening couplet is wonderful Kim – beautiful💞
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Thanks so much, Ange!
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You are very welcome
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wow!!! A beautiful quadrille
much♡love
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Thank you, Gillena, and much love to you.
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Oh this is stunning. I love the imagery in the opening lines and the astrological element of the “Piscean Circle”.
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Thanks very much, Mish. It’s amazing what you can find when you’re fishing,
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A lovely quadrille, Kim ~~ especially like how you used Mourning and Morning!!!
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Thank you, Helen! I’m delighted you spotted that.
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These lines are especially stunning:
before she sinks like a stonefish
into sad little couplets of morning.
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Thank you so much, Melissa. ❤
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Great quad,K! I love the transformation from moonfish to stonefish. Salute!
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Thank you, Ron! I’m so pleased to see you back at the pub.
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I love the first two lines best, but the movement from the moonfish to the stonefish was stunning!
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Thank you so much, Colleen!
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Oh Wowwww, this is stunning, Kim!
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Thank you so much, Rene!
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You’re most welcome, Kim!!
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The way the ending makes everything a dream… masterful!
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Thank you kindly, Kim.
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Such a beautiful yet haunting poem. Nicely done.
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Thanks so much, Maria.
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I found this quite intriguing. 🙂
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Thank you, Carol. 😊
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Very nicely written, Kim.
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Thank you, Dwight.
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Sinking into “sad little couplets”–aww. I really like the “puckered” and “quivers” and “shimmering” imagery in your Q, Kim.
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Thank you so much, Jennifer.
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I really like this line, “among ripples, before she sinks like a stonefish.” Sinks like a stone(fish). Very cool way to deal with that statement. Thank you for posting this!
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Thank you for reading and commenting, Aaron!
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Visually stunning, I loved the idea of her meeting herself and falling like a stonefish. I think we all can be a bit disappointed in our own images.
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Thank you so much, Dianne.
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This is a lovely, fishy poem, and so much more.
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Thank you, Mary!
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” meeting herself mirrored”… beautiful!
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Thank you, Susan!
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Kim, this feels mysterious and beautifully cyclical. I’m especially struck by “a shimmering silver moonfish / in a Piscean circle”—it casts such an elegant spell.
~David
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Thank you, David.
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*hug*
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That ending is sure to stay with me for a while Kim..
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Thankyou, Vidya.
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Aw, that ending was so sad! Beautiful poem, Kim!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
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Thank you very much, Yvette!
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“shimmering, silver moonfish” – Wonderful image
I also love her meeting herself mirrored.
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Thank you, Sara.
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Stellar word play that draws me in, especially the first line, but I love the ending most of all.
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Thank you, Paul!
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