Analysis of Killing my Sister's Fish (Just another poem that I like... Enjoy! :D)

Killing My Sister’s Fish

I picked the bottle with its gladiator shoulders –

inside its shirred greyish plastic

ammonia, more muscular than water, pungent –

I poured one dollop, gleaming genie,

into the bowl with my sister’s goldfish

just because they were alive, and she liked them.

It was in the basement, near the zinc-lined sinks

and the iron-board, next to the boiler,

beside the door to the cellar from which

I could get into the crawl space

under the corner of the house, and lie

on the dirt on my back, as if passed out.

I may have been on my way there

when I saw the bowl, and the ammonia curled

for a moment in the air like a spirit. Then I crawled up

under the floor-joist, into the tangent

where the soil curved up, and I lay there

at the ends of the earth, as if without

regret, as if something set in motion

long before I had been conceived

had been accomplished.

This poem shows sibling rivalry, where one sibling is angry with the other. Being in a family with 3 siblings, it is not rare for me to have disagreements with my siblings. I have chosen this poem to be in the anthology because it closely relates to my life. In the past, after quarrelling with any on my siblings, I would usually take, damage or throw away an object that they like a lot to spite them.

In this case, the persona, is angry with his sister because of something, and decides to kill his sister’s beloved fish by pouring detergent into the water. This poem effectively describes the emotions and feelings of the persona using imagery.

Poem Analysis

Language –

• Usage of personification
• “gladiator shoulders” refers to the detergent bottle. This shows that the persona thinks that detergent is “strong”.
• “more muscular than water” refers to the detergent.
• “gleaming genie” refers to the detergent, as if like a gleaming genie.
• “ammonia curled for a moment in the air like a spirit” shows the detergent as being magical, having the power to take away the life of the fish
• Usage of enjambment
• Helps evoke a sense of lack of control in the persona
• Emphasis on certain words that ends at the end of the line but the sentence continues on the next line. “curled” in “ammonia curled for a moment in the air like a spirit”. “crawled up” in “I crawled up under the floor-joist”
• Allows a rise and fall in tonal progression.
• No certain rhyme scheme
• Indicates that the persona is probably too confused or angry to bother to have a rhyme scheme, showing emotions.

Imagery –

• Uses detailed descriptions
• “shirred grey plastic” describes the detergent bottle
• From such a detailed description, we can see that the persona is probably having strong emotions (nervousness, excitement, fear, anger, etc.) while carrying out the act of killing his sister’s fish, since the detergent is also part of this killing of the fish.
• “zinc-lined sinks” goes to the extent of describing the lining of the sink, which shows how well the persona knows the place.
• From this, we can infer that the persona almost refers to this place as a sanctuary and a secret place for him to contemplate his deeds.
• “ammonia curled for a moment in the air like a spirit” shows the detergent as it diffuses into the water.
• From this, we can infer that the persona probably thinks that the detergent is somehow magical, like a “gleaming genie”