Heronious Maximus

Day 9, Napowrimo 2026. Today, we are to try writing our own poem in the voice of an animal or plant, or a poem that describes a specific animal or plant with references to historical events or scientific facts.

Yesterday, I went fishing and saw the following unfold before my eyes.

I see you there.
You, with your beady eyes and twisted smiles.
Men of envious glares painted gluttonous green.
Hear the silence that now befalls the bankside.
I accept it; willingly.
It is my fanfare, befitting of a Munera champion.

See how I am stage lit by the water-bounced beams of Sol,
As I raise my magnificent crown,
Plumes plumped with pride, then
Point my apricot spear to the heavens,
And fan my glorious grey limbs wide;
I am Caesar.

Triumphant in the Colosseum,
I accept your voiceless tribune,
For you, you are mere mortals.

I, I am the natural, patient, God-given gift of nature.
I stand before you, supreme.
The ultimate athlete,
With which your lines, ledgers and lures cannot compete.

Look upon where I stand.
Stare the length of my long, strong steely legs,
Fall in awe of my sprawled clawed feet.
See there my piscine prize laid before me.

For I,
I am Heronious Maximus Fishious, and I will have my supper.