Belly Aquarium

Instead of going to the gastroenterologist
when cramps roil or indigestion thunders, 

we visit the pungent shop in Annandale
with buy-one-get-one-free zebrafish. 

We select the finest underwater foliage, 

acquire a mug-sized pirate ship, 

and noncommittally ask 
about substrates and fluorescents. 

At home, the fish squirm 
down our throats like tepid ramen 

and the java moss is light as kitchen sponge. 

The barnacles burst like candy. 

We display the ship for ambiance,
weary of splinters. We risk the tiny spyglass: 

hoping to catch sight 
of healthier shores on the horizon. 

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Christina Beasley (@cmbeasley) is a D.C.-based writer, public servant, and poetry editor for Barrelhouse Magazine. Her poems have appeared in Copper Nickel, Hobart, Atlanta Review, The Pinch, The Southampton Review, and elsewhere. She has done residencies with Virginia Quarterly Review, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Southern Illinois University. She is pursuing her M.F.A. with the Bennington Writing Seminars. Check out her website at: www.christinabeasley.com.