Sweet Anticipation

  • My father taught me, I taught my son, now my grandson…

  •  
    5172D17C-B471-4D1A-A8DF-C628218DBA7F

     
    Sweet Anticipation

    ~

    warm
    familiar
    comfortable in my palm
    my fingers wrap natural cork
    index raised
    gauging line tension

    precision brings the willow’d shaft
    high above my shoulder
    rod flexing expectantly

    a flick of my wrist
    and the line arcs forward
    increasing the pressure
    on my fingertip
    as it rolls ahead
    accelerating

    then
    a careful pluck
    like a string
    on a guitar

    it is released

    the golden lure
    at line’s end
    sails silently
    into the squinting summer sun

    with a subtle plick
    the barbed hunter disappears
    slipping ‘neath the sparkle
    of the undulating steam

    seductively
    with quickening pulse
    eagerly visualizing
    I retrieve the bait
    craving the strike

    patience draws the lure
    dancing ever nearer

    I long for the sharp
    powerful tug

    for the slender thread
    unreeled before me
    to rise
    and dart away
    in a sliver of silver spray

    for my heart to jump
    as a proud trout
    breaks water
    victim to my seduction

    in this moment
    mind focused
    breath steady
    senses heightened
    awaiting sudden contact

    I reflect

    there is a simple truth in fishing
    as in life

    the sweet anticipation
    can be as rich
    as the reward

    ~ ~ ~

    rob kistner © 2018

    ______________________

  • Written for “Imaginary Garden With Real Toads”…
    More toad’s childhood memories

  • 22 thoughts on “Sweet Anticipation”

      1. Hi Sherry! It’s so great to see your name in my comments section again. Been a while. I was sidelined for a few years with challenging health issues, but a Pacemaker implant last year got me back on my feet, so I started writing again, and this summer started posting again. It feels great! Thank you for your very kind words. I still link to that interview you did with me in 2011 for Poets United. Enjoyed that one! Well, see you round the toad patch and the pub. 🙂

    1. I don’t know very much about fishing, but I like the way you built up the poem, image by image, to give the reader the same mounting expectation the young fisherman has. I nodded in recognition by the time I got to the conclusion.

      1. Glad you enjoyed it Rommy! Fishing is a great joy we have shared now through 4 generations of Kistners, the men and the women. Not only is the “sweet anticipation” very exciting, awaiting a fish to strike, but it gives us a time to talk and deepen the cross generational bonds. The quiet beauty of nature around you, the water gently lapping on the sides of the boat, the continued easy motion of casting and retrieving – it is very zen… interrupted occasionally by the explosive joy of “fish on!” 🙂

    2. This is wonderful! I love the build up to the conclusion. My father used to take me fishing at the Eno river – a cane pole with a cork for me as I got bored easily and would wander off. But he and my mother loved fishing together. They didn’t do fly fishing as it was not popular in our area but instead rod and reel type fishing. LOL, I felt sorry for the one fish I caught and when we got home, I buried it and refused to eat fish from that day forward. I love the respect you put into your fishing and the way the craft was passed down to you. a delightful memory.

      1. Our experience with fishing is as much about the sharing and bonding as it is about the fishing. It’s wonderful to now have 3 generations together! Most of our fishing is done with spinning reels, and we practice catch and release – though we occadionslly bring s nice trout home for grilling. I am glad you enjoyed this Toni. 🙂

    3. A skill this precise would take a lot of work and dedication, just the kind of time needed to build and cultivate strong bonds. I see why the activity is so important to those who came before you, to you, and to the ones who follow after you…

      The closing stanzas, with their commentary on truth, are true themselves–everything we work for offers us the chance to see/feel the work as a reward, if we just enjoy it, and find people to enjoy with.

      1. Our family truly enjoys our times together fishing Magaly. Very centering snd deeply bonding. Anything done which involves sharing, especially with family, is rewarding and a magical time…
        🙂

    4. This isn’t just a poem about fishing, Rob, but a love poem to male companionship. I love the way it starts with the words ‘familiar’ and ‘comfortable’, the fine detail of the process of fishing, the joy when the writs flicks and the ‘line arcs forward’, and the ‘careful pluck like a string on a guitar’ – an apt simile. My favourite part is the beautiful description of the golden lure sailing ‘into the squinting summer sun’ – delicious sibiliance to create the sound!

    5. It is most definitely exactly that Kim. This is how the Kistner men have bonded for four generations. Men, in boats, on the water, under the sun, emmersed in nature, practicing the rhythmic zen of casting – all the talking and sharing themselves, strengthening the interwoven relationships, with knowledge and tales moving up and down through the generations. It’s male love at it’s purest… and I understand how fortunate my immediate patriarchal lineage is…

    6. Nice, nice! Love the comparison to a guitar string. I grew up with people fishing all around me but didn’t quite take to it. Still I recognize this memory. It’s wonderful.

      1. Glad this resonated for you Marian. I loved the social aspects of fishing as much as the sport. Plus, I loved the zen-like essence of the sound of the water, the peaceful beauty of the surroundings, the quiet metronomic motions of casting and retrieving. It calmed the savage beast in me…

    7. The very few time I’ve gone fishing I realized it had to be something about waiting that was enjoyable, I never got hooked though :-)… and then my father didn’t fish either.

      1. It was never a “waiting” thing for me Bjorn, it was a “being” thing. Being with people I cared about, being immersed in the zen-like essence of the sound of the water, gentle movements of the boat, the peaceful beauty of the surroundings, the quiet hypnotic motions of casting and retrieving. It calmed me and kept me sane… at least as sane as I was able to be… 😉

    8. the sweet anticipation
      can be as rich
      as the reward

      The beauty of fishing captured most perfectly. It is the feeling experienced at the point of success that all anglers are lured each time to whip the rod flying into the air.

      Hank

    9. the sweet anticipation
      can be as rich
      as the reward

      The beauty of fishing captured most perfectly. It is the feeling experienced at the point of success that all anglers are lured each time to whip the rod flying into the air.

      Hank

    10. The sounds in this poem just glide off the tongue! I hope you are able to share and pass on your love for fly fishing – it is a great way to spend the day with a loved one!

      1. Well Margaret, first blessed my son with it when he was 5, and he and I are showing his 5-year-old, my grandson, the zen art of the cast – and he loves it, more to learn, but he’s hungry to… 🙂

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *