At 9 years old
it’s funny how
half the bait slips off the hook
before it hits the water.
Plop.
A lonely barely-bit of bait,
not worth a triploid trout’s time, really—
makes it
into Rufus Woods Reservoir.
He shrugs, though, good enough—
just to get it out there,
sits down on the dusty rock
and waits
for a pulse on the line.
He owns this moment
as I watch him
smile a bit,
flick his foot in the water,
and gaze at the opposing hills;
while I wonder
what he’s thinking.
No more than half a minute goes by, and
tug—tug—tug.
‘Got one’ he says, not surprised, at all—
and begins reeling;
the rest of us look at each other,
shake our heads,
and laugh a bit in disbelief.
Something about
the faith of a child
to know you don’t have to
be perfect,
sometimes fish
are just hungry.
Copyright 2012 Jennifer Wagner