Fish Nuggets by Astrid Hoffbeck
Associated Subjects:
Writing & Grammar
Astrid Hoffbeck wrote the poem “Fish Nuggets” for her Spring 2026 Creative Writing for the Logic Stage course. Her instructor, Lori Huth, says “The assignment was to write a poem about something extraordinary that uses concrete details to convey an abstract idea, and Astrid managed to do this superbly! I felt the speaker’s comical anger and delighted in the surprising turns of the poem. I especially enjoyed how surprising the first line is in relation to the title and the surprise of the fish talking, having a wife (or at least saying he has one), and making a last request before death. The image of the fish ‘cackling downstream’ is great, and Astrid made good choices about how to organize the lines on the page so that the poem is visually appealing.” Great work, Astrid… and we know what we aren’t having for dinner tonight!
