The water wasn't compliant. The oar would cut, plow, push and suck water back but the current was stronger, relentless. It had other plans. It took me to this shore. Big deal? I thought. Just a shore. Just trees acting like they're the depth of existence, as though nothing hid behind their garish leaves. And then she appeared. Or she was always there and my eyes learned to see deeper. She was near the water, on one leg. Her beak turned; offering me her profile. I fumbled with my pocket. Thought surely she'll be gone before I get it out. My awkward camera phone made it's cachick sound and the bird was captured. There she is, a dot on the shore. What next? I thought, for the water held me there; caught in eddies. She heard me. She held out her wings like the folds of a bathrobe; launched effortlessly into layers of air. Cachick! The camera shot her out of the sky, shattered into a billion pixels on a photograph. Here she is. RIP.  And the water bore me on. A point on the mud. Fallen branches made hidden kingdoms under water. Surely fish live here! There's my beached canoe. I threw the lure out, watched failing sunlight gleam off the wet line like a spider web in the rain.  Did I catch anything? Did any fish open wide and swallow my barbed hooks? No. There was an understanding between us. They knew it wasn't in me on this day. They knew I would just reel them in, let them off, toss them back. What I really wanted was to sit on a mound of mud. Take out the lone beer I brought sloshing in a bag of ice. Let the waves lap like dog kisses on my sun burnt feet.  When we were done, the lake and I, I got back into my canoe and she bore me back. We said our goodbyes and I drove home with a smile on my face. I'd gone fishing. I only caught a bird. |
I Went Fishing
7.03.2008
7.03.2008
6 Comments:
I wish I could make capturing an untintended species. Getting blanked. Catching zero, zip, nada, squat. etc. Sound as poetic as you.
haha! well, when it happens as often as it does to me, you learn to compensate :) i just need some fishing lessons...
If really want to have some fun in that little lake, try an old-fashioned hook and bobber with some chicken livers as bait, fished right on the bottom. You can get frozen livers at the grocery store... hope you like catfish...
Methinks that fishing with you two would be a truly grand experience.
mmmmm... i like chicken, i like liver, bobber bobber please deliver!!!
I wish I had been there with you.
Post a Comment
<< Home