Plastic Bag

We stood on the canal bank

under a bruise of a sky

she was full of questions

questions that

as usual

I couldn’t answer

we stared at the fish

“What type of fish is that?”

“How can you tell which fish are boys and which are girls?”

“Why is a swarm of fish called a school?”

“How many fish are there?”

 

I don’t know

I don’t know

I don’t know

I don’t know

 

she pointed at a plastic bag in the water near the far bank

“Is that a jellyfish?”

I did know

I told her that she was a silly monkey

that it was just a plastic bag

that jellyfish would never be in a canal

only in the sea

in saltwater

she was quiet

for a moment

 

“Would jellyfishes like canals?”

“Why is there salt in the sea?”

“Will there ever be salt in the canal?”

“Who put that plastic bag there?”

 

I don’t know

I don’t know

I don’t know

I don’t know