A Salmon's Intrusive Thoughts by Olivia C (Tennessee)

Don’t do it, please don’t do it
I have nothing left of my former self
I was never blessed with fingers, kneecaps, or toes
Just a thin, squamous flesh casing around the brain
And muscles you throw back to my brethren

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After you caught me,
You held me captive in a box 
Frigid enough to strip Norwegian caps
Of their subzero notoriety

That was when my eyes still worked
Inquiring crystalline lenses
Swimming in a shallow, gelatinous putty of iris
Fearful of the journey that awaited them 

I’ll never forget how you
Threw me in an open metal coffin
Where the sun’s flares licked me from below,
Strips of my skin became branded and
Forced to turn from a 
Sakura pink to a deep ebony

This became a personal offense, though,
When you disgraced me,
Smearing salty casein byproduct 
All over my skin,
Sending me gliding,
Circumnavigating the edges of this 
Round torture contraption

Now here I am: cubical,
Decapitated, and shamefully well-seasoned
Awaiting the final stop on this round trip to hell
Where I will be consumed by gastric fluid
Likely neighboring a starch root
And flushed away with a basic liquid refreshment

If only I were a catfish
Mustachioed and high enough in mercury content
To make you rethink your murderous agenda

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Olivia C is a writer from Tennessee. She is passionate about poetry and entertainment/social journalism. She can be found editing/writing for The Teen Magazine, TeenInk, and her personal blog the Cyrus Piece (https://oliviacyrus.wordpress.com/). When she is not watching football, she is learning how to cook roti, procrastinating, and dreaming about learning how to play the jazz flute.