Trunk Aquarium

When Steph’s car was rear-ended overnight
by a tired hospice doctor,
there was an aquarium in the trunk.

Not even our aquarium. Left by a previous tenant
on the back porch.

I wonder what that bleary-eyed doctor thought of
all the extra glass? Did he even notice?

What about the cop who knocked on our door at 5am?

What did his police report report? Did he place an APB for

the popemobile
a glass-bottomed boat
a truckload of Mexican Coke

Or did the glass sparkle in the red and blue strobe?
Something new and magical?

Did the cop hope for a story to tell his buddies?
An upset to the routine?

Did that doctor conjure the soul of the last patient
he’d been in no position to treat?

Or did we all share the same dull questions:

Where’s the water?

What has happened
to the fish?

---

Zach Powers is the author of the forthcoming novel The Migraine Diaries (JackLeg 2026), the novel First Cosmic Velocity, and the story collection Gravity Changes, winner of the BOA Short Fiction Prize. His writing has been featured by American Short Fiction, Lit Hub, and elsewhere. He serves as Executive & Artistic Director for The Writer’s Center and Poet Lore, America’s oldest poetry journal. Originally from Savannah, Georgia, he now lives in Arlington, Virginia. Get to know him at ZachPowers.com.