Gold scales and an oblong body
Four to five inches long
Like a throwaway pet
Deemed dumb and dirty
But I have seen it in the cradle
Gasping for air while its weaker cousins died
Have seen it metamorphosize from black to orange
And each inch it gained
Was a year of my life and his
RED GLADIOLA 
We used to have a goldfish that would eat all the other goldfish we put in with it. It lived for about twenty years…although we stopped tempting fate by putting other goldfish in with it quite early on.
I suppose it’s better late than never to learn. Fortunately mine get along fine.