Pisces

One swam up Tigris, his
brother up Euphrates but
some celestial joker tied
their tails together so,
tethered to the sea, they
made it to the headwaters but
no further though they tried,
flopping sullenly in
muddy pools, sometimes
thrashing their fins to
slop great gouts of
angry water downstream to
frighten and fertilize.

Brother mourned
brother marooned across
porous mountains which
sent them their runoffs--
reverse tears into the
cold gummy eyes of
lost fish.