a pretty kettle of fish

Some days, I try to write poetry and recall Noel Bastable.

O Beetle how I weep to see
Thee lying on thy poor back!
It is so very sad indeed.
You were so shiny and black.
I wish you were alive again
But Eliza says wishing it is nonsense and a shame.

--- Edith Nesbit, The Story of the Treasure Seekers