I had this idea I would

write about the

old aquarium in Camden,

not the new. The old one

had indigenous fish

that live in the slate grey

waters off New Jersey–

the kind few deigned

to see.

That is why they renovated

the place. Set aside or killed

the flounder and bass  and

bluefish you might just

as soon find on

a dinner plate as

in a tank and

replaced them

with tropicals:

floating mosaics from

a Byzantine ceiling.

These are the creatures

people pay to see.

Now the turnstiles

are humming and I

find myself viewing

delicate beauties,

as well as sharks

swimming

overhead, ram-

bunctious penguins,

and one lone

alligator lying in a

tiled tank, waiting, as

we all are, for something

good.

Ruth Rouff is an English instructor and educational writer living in Collingswood, NJ. In addition to being published in a number of literary journals, she has written two young adult nonfiction books.  Her poetry/creative nonfiction collection Pagan Heaven will appear this November.