This poem was a runner-up in the FISH publishing annual poetry contest for 2016. Thought it would be a good one to put out there just a week before the 2017 FisherPoets Gathering in Astoria. I'll be reading there THREE times. This is on the playlist. Tune in to KMUN Coast Radio at 6:15pm PST to hear me live from the Astoria Event Center. Best Fishes!
Flash in the Distance
I am from gillnetters: from the Skookum Too and Veronika K.
I am boats floating a night sea, circles on the back of a wave.
I am from salmon slime, flake ice, scales and gurry.
I am hissing stick rips, glassy rolling seas,
wild-horse, white-maned wave stampedes.
I am waterhaul and roundhaul, radio fish
and sunken nets; clatters, splashers,
nudgers, jerkers, nothing much
and better get over here now.
I am from beer on the back deck,
baseball caps and rubber boots.
I am from where sunrise ignites the sea,
volcanoes vent over the island,
belugas rise to greet stars.
I am the shuddering slam of the hull,
salt spray on the windows,
needles of rain on my cheeks.
I am a fire in the cabin, a blown fan belt,
oil in the bilge, catching a line from a tender for a tow.
I am a flash in the distance, whitecaps in the rip,
the bow slicing an ocean swell,
foam in my wake.
Flash in the Distance
I am from gillnetters: from the Skookum Too and Veronika K.
I am boats floating a night sea, circles on the back of a wave.
I am from salmon slime, flake ice, scales and gurry.
I am hissing stick rips, glassy rolling seas,
wild-horse, white-maned wave stampedes.
I am waterhaul and roundhaul, radio fish
and sunken nets; clatters, splashers,
nudgers, jerkers, nothing much
and better get over here now.
I am from beer on the back deck,
baseball caps and rubber boots.
I am from where sunrise ignites the sea,
volcanoes vent over the island,
belugas rise to greet stars.
I am the shuddering slam of the hull,
salt spray on the windows,
needles of rain on my cheeks.
I am a fire in the cabin, a blown fan belt,
oil in the bilge, catching a line from a tender for a tow.
I am a flash in the distance, whitecaps in the rip,
the bow slicing an ocean swell,
foam in my wake.
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