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Fishing Poem |
For Ashley Steineger
She calls it "baitin’ up the water"
Throwing bread out into the shallow
without consequence
Just lettin’ em’ feed
This morning across the unpanicked water
there is room for many fishermen
though none are swarming
When cloudless, in June, our sightlines are flattened—
It is the sun that compresses us
Even the plants succumb as if to mimic
the beads who, at this moment are
finally ready to blemish our unfettered brows
All of this happens without consequence
until Ashley, dissatisfied with the settle,
casts her line out into the reflect
and slips a hook (in hiding) underneath
Moments later, hat down on the embankment
she has put down her pole
and clutches the wide-eyed fish in a towel
I snap a picture of her and her swaddling hands
She has outlasted the waiting
Is present at present
We refuse to acknowledge an unobstructed sun
what is different
In this light nothing the sculptor is frozen
excises the hook from the
young one’s tremulous mouth
copyright 2005
Eric
Steineger |
