FOLLOWED BY FISH

At the neighbor's pond the fish swim about the small dock.  As I begin to walk around the edge, the crowd gathered then followed my footsteps with their fins.  What can it mean to them to see and follow a creature from another world?  For now it means bread cast upon the waters, as I walk with a piece of wheat bread in my hand.  Is it tameness or wildness that causes this behavior ?  In spite of our differences in language, bio-culture and lifestyles - - we have met in a place where we share.  They reached out to me in their willingness to follow me around.  So, bread, I decided, was a sign of language  that fish can understand, coming from me. So, I went home and got some!
  Nowadays, they gather where I appear and I continue to marvel at the innocence and simplicity of beings other than my own kind who would choose to float with me as I follow the pond's perimeter.  Our reflections merge with the falling leaves - leaving my world for theirs, to swirl on the surface.
"2 Fish"   batik on fabric, by Juli Sibley