A nature poem in response to Linda Lee Lyberg’s “water” prompt at dVerse.
stir in the brisk dawn
as breezes waft the gorge
rustle my jacket
nip my cheeks
across the casual rapids
near the stony shore
rainbows surface in slack water
hungrily gulping morning hatch
my most recent offering undulates past
in the glinting chatter of spring flow
unacknowledged
chuckling
I turn
elbow steady
I begin to rotate my lengthy bamboo
behind to two PM.
silently stripping the slender thread
from current’s surface
leaving a razor crease
disappearing quick as it comes
the lacquered rod bends forward as I lift
then slowly flexes back
the line arcs behind in flight
trailing silvery spray
backward pressure builds
as line nears full unfurling
but just before
a smooth return
slowly brings the shaft
again to ten AM
now
I feel the forward pull of the soaring mass
as overhead the line recoils
midair
the glass-green fiber
rolls out ahead
over azure ripples
the singing strand painting an “S”
in the cloudless sky
quick
smooth
and quiet
the line is re-wed to stream
the feathered morsel at the tip
offered yet again
coaxing a ready trout
to rise
and strike
DAY 11
WOW- I have always been in awe of this sport. When I was a kid we fished with cane poles in the river, and later I was gifted my own rod and reel. I love to fish and have always been enamored of fly fishing. It feels so romantic and poetic. Zen like in the movements. This is excellent Rob.
Linda, it is perhaps the closest I become to feeling one with the natural world around me. Fully aware, fully engaged, yet completely relaxed. The repeated motion is almost hypnotic. That may sound contradictory, but it is the truest way I way describe it! Blissfully transcendent. I LOVE IT! I don’t care one bit if I catch nothing. I am utterly at peace after a day of fly fishing. I am gradually learning how to do it seated given I have difficulty standing with the diabetic neuropathy in my feet. The only frustration is I can’t hike in to get as close the the wild waters as used to – but I still love it!
Damn, brother, a perfect poem, an excellent tutorial. You give me the impression that possibly there’s an old fly rod in your closet.
I love fly fishing so much Glenn, that now that I have become serious with my cross-training as part of my cardiac rehabilitation, I am learning to fly cast seated, given sustained standing is problematic for me with the neuropathy in my feet. I will be stripping the water this Spring, I just won’t be able to hike to the wilder streams – but I still love it!
I have not seen one so I was swept away by your description of fly fishing. Good luck on trying this one seated Rob. Cheers!
Glad you enjoyed it Grace. Appreciate your well wishes, hope I can make it work consistently.
I like your descriptors like “casual rapids” and “razor crease.” They create crisp pictures in my mind.
Wonderful. I am pleased!
Nice Rob! Reminds me of the movie, A River Runs Through It!
I liked this line…
my most recent offering undulates past
in the glinting chatter of spring flow
unacknowledged
That was a wonderful scene in that movie! I have many of them unacknowledged Dwight, but I still love it! i live for the one that is acknowledged… 🙂
I am going to learn fly fishing this summer.
Go for it Jane, you will not regret It! 🙂
I loved that movie…
It was poignant and powerful Judy. I hope you liked my poem…
It took me there.
So pleased it did Paul!
Wow, sounds like such an adventure. I can hear the water. I can also feel the cold on my feet. Nicely presented, makes me want to try it.
Pat
It is a wonderful zen-like experience Pat, and it pulls you close to nature!
I am such a fan of alliteration. You had me at cliff-climbing conifers, and kept me through your cast. It can be so hard to describe a process lyrically – great write!
You are very kind Nora, thank you… 🙂
a very vivid description of the process, sounds quite hypnotic … actually catching something would disturb the peace 🙂
It does disturb the peace Kate – but in an electrifyingly wonderful way… 🙂
I like the “glass-green fiber rolls out ahead over azure ripples.” I have forgotten how ‘azure’ the colour of water can be. Just wonderful.
Pleased you liked this Fatima. The mountain streams near my home of 25 years in Portland Oregon were clear as glass azure and green — breathtaking! The colors of the rivers here in Oregon, and the Pacific Northwest overall are the color of emerald and azure because they are pristine pure mountain glacier run off. Spectacular! This is not me in this picture posted here with “The Cast”, but this a stretch of the Clackamas River l fished many times. It was less than 20 minutes from home. Also the picture I posted with my poem entitled “Enthralled” was a bend in the Clackamas River I fished often. Check out the gem-like color of the water flowing cold and pure in those rivers. It is because they are young, strong, umpolluted wild rivers.they are not the tired muddy, chemical brown poluted rivers of the East.
http://www.image-verse.com/enthralled