Shudder the catfish, deeply anchored
Nemesis of childhood fishing trips
On Eagle Lake and otherwheres
Always first they were to take my bait
Sluggish tug on the line and I’d know
I’d caught another whiskered fiend
“Get your line off bottom,” Dad would say
I’d surely try but they seemed to know
This little girl was a reel cat person
They’d take turns over the gunwhale
Gasping grayly in the bottom of the boat
Them out of water, me out of sorts
Their luck, we had a deal, Dad and I
He’d free each wretch from my hook
And toss them back with, “Try again.”
Another worm and cast, another chance
Daydreaming dogfish and micefish
Going home happy with even a perch
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Copyright Deborah McGlauflin 2009. All rights reserved.
