Brief reflection on killing the Christmas carp

You take a kitchen-mallet

and a knife

and hit

the right spot, so it doesn’t jerk, for

jerking means only complications and reduces profit.

And the watchers already narrow their eyes, already admire the

dexterity,

already reach for their purses. And paper is ready

for wrapping it up. And smoke rises from chimneys.

And Christmas peers from windows, creeps along the ground

and splashes in barrels.

Such is the law of happiness.

I am just wondering if the carp is the right creature.

A far better creature surely would be one

which—stretched out—held flat—pinned down—

would turn its blue eye

on the mallet, the knife, the purse, the paper,

the watchers and the chimneys

and Christmas,

And quickly

say something. For instance

These are my happiest days; these are my golden days.

The starry sky above me and the moral law within me,

And yet it moves.

Or at least

Hallelujah!

Copyright Credit: Miroslav Holub, “Brief reflection on killing the Christmas carp” from Poems Before & After. Reprinted with the permission of Bloodaxe Books Ltd., www.bloodaxebooks.com.

Source: Poems Before and After (Bloodaxe Books, 2006)