I am reminded of a story I read when I was a kid
that I suppose is true
about an octopus that was kept in a tank
inside of a place where they observe
animals and their behavior
(not just an aquarium)
and I am reminded of the pictures in my head
as I read about the creature
how I imagined a black room with black painted walls
(I don't know why)
and that the tank was bare
and inside there is a small octopus, eight armed, bumpy, eyes blinking inside a tank.
there are many such tanks.
The story I read was about how smart the octopus is.
An octopus can learn to do something very clever by watching another octopus do that thing.
It can learn from observation
But they can become bored.
They can become depressed.
I think this is why I imagined a black room and an empty tank, glass walls, glass bottom
and only a glass jar to hide in.
I imagined an alien place for the octopus
I imagined its almost human eyes staring out of a world of glass in a room that was black
and I think I could see how it could feel sad
(they can change their colors with how they feel, too, but I did not imagine the color of a
sad octopus)
A bored octopus, the book wrote, can kill itself.
It has a parrot's beak.
It tears its own arms off and eats itself, destroying itself
I remember the word: autophagy
instead of suicide
