Saturday, August 21, 2010

The One That Got Away

August 10, 2010 - Timber Wolf Lodge, Ely, MN

There's always one isn't there?
Always the story of the thirty-pounder,
The fight of your life, exhilarating, heart-thumping
Did-you-see-that one that got away.

Mine wasn't like that

He was pretty and shiny and
Might have been a keeper

I was exhilarated and my heart-thumped
When he got away, but he was average,
Just average.

The north winds blew
Eagle screeched overhead
White caps raged
Beneath clear then cloudy skies
Over Bear Island Lake

Twenty years since my last time
So long I'd forgotten what I remembered
The cool touch of the pole
Or the proper movement for satisfying results
The proficiency, the experience, somewhere within.

Once I'd been skilled, not expert, but adept
Now it was like the very first time
All over again
The one you want to forget

He was alert. He recognized the awkwardness
What was that shimmy in the palm of my hand?
At the moment I realized he was mine
He flicked me off and disappeared into
The pond that's full of one's just like him.

He was pretty and shiny and
Might have been a keeper

But he was only average.

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