AquariumTok

We’re discussing the shortform video content
that the Algorithms have been serving us
like some kind of soup or slop or stew
(we can feel our minds softening
into a kind of warm porridge).
One kind of video everyone seems to be watching
is “rating the scoopability” of fancy slimes. I can’t wait
for two years from now when no one will understand
what I’m talking about. Trends are so volatile.

Right now I’m lost in aquarium videos. Not your average
pretty goldfish or betta fish—though I’ve seen some
of those as well—no the rabbit hole I’m swimming in
is infested with “monster fish” over four feet long
that someone is keeping in a giant indoor pond
they built themself. Arowana and alligator gar
with their little whiskers. Fifteen-inch reticulated puffer
and four-foot electric eel in their own separate, massive tanks.
The fish swim fluidly and don’t know how strange
they look, what a surprise they’d be
to an unsuspecting burglar.

If I broke into a home
during desperate times, and found a koi pond
complete with aquatic plants and frogs,
it would be difficult to keep from pausing
and trailing my hand through the water.
I want to feel their smooth and slimy scales.
I want to be arrested, taken aback, by beauty.