Maybe the Wrong Season, But...

I wrote this a couple of years ago, and just came across it again. It made me think of fishing trips I've been on, of friends I know who love to fish, of that little pause in reality, that little wrinkle in the fabric of the cosmos when something takes the bait.

Though it is chilly out and time to think of turkeys, I just had to share.

Too Hot to Fish

“I want to learn to fish,” I said,

He looked at me, and scratched his head,

“You picked a rotten day to start!

Too hot to fish around these parts!”

I gave him my cash and signed my name,

“I’d like to try it, just the same.”

We climbed in the boat and he said, “OK,

 But I betcha nothin’ bites today!”

Just then a bubble gurgled up,

A fishy head was seen below,

“Look there, he’s smilin’! That ain’t right!”

A smiling catfish! What a sight!

The man went wild and grabbed his pole,

“And right here in my fishin’ hole!

I’ll catch this sneaky catfish now!”

He dropped his hook over the bow.

“If I could catch me one of them,”

He said, while sweat poured off of him,

“This sun would cook him in the boat

I’d eat him right here while I float!”

Nothing happened for a bit,

No nibbled worm, no swim-by hit.

“It’s not my fishin’!” he said, real gruff,

 “For fishin’, I got all the stuff!”

He held up his pole with its fancy reel,

He held up his brown wicker fishing creel,

His gesture included his fine tackle box,

And even his fish-themed fishing socks!

“I tell you, it’s not me that’s beat,

It’s this dad gum blazing summer heat!”

Just then he caught my eye, and grinned

“Guess I should be teachin’ you, my friend!”

We trolled to other secret holes,

Though no other fishermen dipped their poles,

Try as we may, in his special spots,

No fish would bite, it was just too hot!

“Sorry son,” he said at last

When shadows cooled us as we cast,

But all of sudden my bobber went splash

And what happened next was worth all my cash!

“It looks like a big one!” He sat up straight,

“We’re in luck now, son, he took your bait!”

I was reeling and pulling, the fish full of fight,

I just couldn’t land him, try as I might.

The man stood up in the boat, and it veered

Wild to one side where my line disappeared!

Into the lake we both went in a flash

With all of the gear and the bait and the cash.

Sputtering up, the man looked around,

“Oh no! My gear!” He said, diving back down.

We brought up the creel and the cool tackle box,

And of course, he still had his fishing socks.

But somewhere in that big old lake

Is a laughing catfish who likes to take

Time and hooks from those who wish

To fish on day that’s too hot to fish!