Ode to a Goldfish

Oh, Birdy, your life was but a brief breath in a tank.
All too quickly you went belly up and sank.
When I tried to get you out with a net
Your lifeless body played hard to get.

My Madeline, who named you well,
("My fish are Birdy and Golden," she did tell.)
Was so excited about the first pet she could call her own.
But you lasted not even one day in your new home.

Now there's but one goldfish swimming in the blue
And one sweet, little girl who's sorely missing you.
We said a prayer and gave a heartfelt good-bye
And girl and Mommy, too, did their best not to cry.

Then we called Daddy up on the phone
And asked, "Will you please on the way home?
Stop by the pet store so this day we will no longer rue
And get another fishy friend whom Maddy'd like to call Birdy Two?"

Because a goldfish may be just a simple wet pet
That requires no love and no service from a vet.
But to a child, even a fish is something not to ever take for granted at all
Because as she's said before, God is everywhere - in the big and in the small.