Poem of the Week

Jessica Lee, a finalist in Narrative’s Twelfth Annual poetry Contest, earned her BA in creative writing, with a minor in dance, from Western Washington University and is an MFA candidate at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

When I Think of Early Romance I Think of Fishing

by Jessica Lee

and how I wanted to practice casting
instead of standing on the actual dock,
worm on hook, trying to wait patiently
for a nibble. And if a fish did bite
and I reeled in the slippery thing?
I wouldn’t know what to do with the body,
gills pumping like an accordion, no music
but the sound of him smacking the dock
as he flailed up and down, leaving
wet prints of himself across the wood.
I liked fishing on the lawn best, releasing
the rod’s button at just the right moment
so the string made a perfect arc above
my head, flying forward.
No real worms, just the red-and-white bobber
and a lure like an earring made of feathers
tied to the end of my line. No real hook
to maybe prick my finger. I imagined
big rainbow trout with polka-dots
and shiny pink stripes rushing toward my bait,
and catfish with long whiskers and frowns,
the black beads of their eyes huge and still.
But really, what I loved most was the tackle
box with its many compartments
and removable trays. Like a jewelry box,
it held the things I was told I’d need:
Extra hooks, some small as Tic Tacs,
others large enough to catch a shark.
Lead sinkers and plastic jelly worms.
A jar of salmon eggs that looked like little
maraschino cherries but smelled awful.
A spool of the invisible string, the stainless-
steel knife with a slip-resistant grip,
and a miniature first aid kit in case of emergencies.

Read on . . .

“Fish Hook,” a poem by Eve Alexandra


Want to read the rest?
Please login.
New to Narrative? sign up.
It's easy and free.
The password field is case sensitive. Account & Password Help.
Joining Narrative gives you FREE access to thousands of stories, poems and essays. It’s easy:
PLEASE ENTER A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS.
PLEASE NOTE: We are discontinuing our support of Microsoft-related addresses, including msn.com, live.com, outlook.com, and hotmail.com, and we ask that you use an alternative address, such as gmail.com, yahoo.com, fastmail.com, comcast.net, verizon.com, icloud.com, or other.

We have found Microsoft-related email addresses to be sometimes inconsistent in terms of delivering messages, and we want to make sure that you can access your account and reliably receive messages that you have requested.
Email Preferences
Email Preferences