Does a Bicycle Need a Fish?

The Fish Bicycle

”A Woman Needs a Man like a Fish Needs a Bicycle”

I saw this message on every self-respecting woman’s
refrigerator a long time ago.
Sometimes it was handwritten on a notecard
and taped to the appliance.
I know it was also popular as a refrigerator magnet.
The fish + bicycle has been around a very long time.

Yet long before I saw the magnet I read and listened
to John Cage’s Zen koans
about monks (men) and women.

Amusing myself, I conflated the well-known refrigerator magnet
with one of Cage’s short pieces for my own delight.

Perhaps you may find these too silly, annoying, goofy, dumb, or possibly fun.
I mashed them together and let the pieces fall as they may.

Listen to Cage’s voice:
“Kwang-tse points out that
a beautiful woman
who gives pleasure to men
serves only to frighten the fish
when she jumps
in the water.”

...and now my vandalism:

A beautiful fish
which gives pleasure to fishermen
serves only to frighten the bicycle
When she leaps on the bike
to take it for a spin.

On the street I watch men swivel their heads
as such a woman walks past
knowing that if she turned around
and came back
they might scatter like fish.

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