# "Don John the Illegitimate Son"



## TheKingsFish (Jan 8, 2011)

Poems have been written 
For our bettas who have gone;
Today I will tell you the tale
Of the fish we called John:
Don John the illegitimate son,
As he came to be known
Came to us from Petland
As a girl we called Joan.
Many days he lingered with us
In a quarantine home
Before he in his happiness
Surprised us with foam.
For day and days 
The debate raged on:
Was he female Joan,
Or was his name John?
His fins stayed short
But his body was dark and long,
So we changed his Arc
For the deceptive John
And gave him worms to keep him strong.
Happy weeks passed
After all that time at the shop
Though we couldn't have guessed
That the joy would stop:
His sad demeanor we noted
And tried to change
But more time for his life
We could not arrange.
Fate had a different path 
In store for John:
When we woke on the fourth day
Don John was gone.
That was two days ago
And soon we will take
Him to the water
Where the river meets the lake.
On a floating pyre will we lay him
And let his ashes go
With his brothers and sisters 
Into the watery flow.


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## TheKingsFish (Jan 8, 2011)

OFL: Check the _Dramatis Personae _for "Much Ado About Nothing." In this case the name the fish bore refers to a character who was an illegitimate son. I would gladly have informed anyone who asked.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Sorry....this is a family friendly forum and....we don't want to give the wrong impression.....I can change it to a different word if you would like......


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## TheKingsFish (Jan 8, 2011)

Illegitimate works, I suppose. Lol. I guess not everyone takes the time to consult a dictionary.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

I like his name...even if it is controversial for an all ages forum! That was a very nice poem, I'm sorry about your loss.


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## TheKingsFish (Jan 8, 2011)

I wonder if the controversial connotation is largely due to Shakespeare: throughout Much Ado they often hint that perhaps part of the reason that Don John is such a b'd is because he is illegitimate.

As for our John, we thought he was female when we brought him home. He proved us wrong, thus he was not legitimately what he appeared to be.


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

I like the connection you made, I never would have thought of the reference, but it's very fitting.


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## TheKingsFish (Jan 8, 2011)

Which part?


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## LolaQuigs (Mar 28, 2010)

Connecting the illegitimate gender to a shakespeare character with an illegitimate birth, it's very clever!


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## TheKingsFish (Jan 8, 2011)

I'm glad you see it, lol.


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