A DAY’S CATCH
By Roland E. Williams
At four, or a little after
Silently to the shore
Boat straining young bodies
Today not everyone is present
No one minds
No one must care
This time of day silences sounds
All are being quiet as they begin
Tongues too heavy to move
Now still far to go
Will they recall that?
Now they pull,
They raise,
They lower,
And out they go
Great big swells beneath them
A little farther
A little more
Almost there, the first one coming up
It’s dark, don’t get hurt
One pulls,
One coils,
Others raise their feet,
Conger eel aboard!
Not too bad, for the first
Been better, and been much better,
But been worse too
They’re still quiet
And you don’t know why
No time to attend to that
Just keep hauling, next’s coming up!
There’s a lot of flapping
And almost as much snapping
The pails are filling up
The splashes are louder
This hour silences less
This fellow’s small, should he go back?
Sure to be someone else’s catch
There’s a lot of silver
And rainbow colors
And so many specks
And stripes!
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