So there I was, just twiddling my tentacles, trying to come up with something to write about, when the wonderful Ava, from The Reef Tank, emails me to ask if I might be willing to write some stuff for that site. Willing? Delighted! So we kick around some ideas, and eventually settle on the notion of an occasional piece built around the alphabet (though not in alphabetical order!). The first installment, A is for Aquarium, is now up at The Reef Tank (and for once, I am just gonna let you click through to read it!)

Why, then, my title? Well. The verse was ready about a week ago, save for a few minor edits. Then, PZ posts this on Pharyngula, with his concluding line: “I hope we can take better care of it, so it isn’t all confined to a few large tanks here and there.” Yeah, I could have had the first comment, with the perfect verse, but this one wasn’t for Pharyngula, but for The Reef Tank. So I write to Ava, advising her to link TRT to the comment thread… and she was away for the weekend.

Missed it by *that* much.

The message is the same, in prose or in verse (or, most eloquently, in video). The truth is, it is already too late to prevent some of the damage we have done and continue to do. Some of the effects of our current lifestyles will be felt for generations. I want my children, and theirs, and theirs, to have a world where fish don’t have to live indoors.

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