Hobble Creek Review
| C.E. Chaffin |
Fish Planting
The fish and game officer
strains under the weight
of his long-handled net,
then dumps its squirming silver
into the glacial creek.
After the splash and shock
the trout obey the current,
huddled like monks,
snouts facing upstream.
One braves the mid-stream's force
only to be driven back,
twisting in foam;
others steadily wave their tails,
content to balance
their own propulsion
against the creek's.
A fisherman dangles bait.
They ignore it.
Breathing comes before eating.
They work on breathing.
Singly they peel off,
planes in a squadron
diving downstream,
flashing over falls
into boiling pools
to seek the deep rocks
where the water is clear
but not too swift.
After a night
in the strange water
they grow hungry.
The fiery salmon eggs
they snubbed yesterday
suddenly appeal
though they mouth them
several times
before biting
into the shock of hooks.
The fish and game officer
strains under the weight
of his long-handled net,
then dumps its squirming silver
into the glacial creek.
After the splash and shock
the trout obey the current,
huddled like monks,
snouts facing upstream.
One braves the mid-stream's force
only to be driven back,
twisting in foam;
others steadily wave their tails,
content to balance
their own propulsion
against the creek's.
A fisherman dangles bait.
They ignore it.
Breathing comes before eating.
They work on breathing.
Singly they peel off,
planes in a squadron
diving downstream,
flashing over falls
into boiling pools
to seek the deep rocks
where the water is clear
but not too swift.
After a night
in the strange water
they grow hungry.
The fiery salmon eggs
they snubbed yesterday
suddenly appeal
though they mouth them
several times
before biting
into the shock of hooks.
C.E. Chaffin, M.D., FAAFP, has been a contributing editor for
Umbrella and Eclectica, is presently the editor for Melic Press and is
the former editor and publisher of The Melic Review. Credits include
The Alaska Quarterly Review, The Pedestal, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Book Review and Rattle, among others. His newest volume,
Unexpected Light, was published in 2009 by Diminuendo Press.
Umbrella and Eclectica, is presently the editor for Melic Press and is
the former editor and publisher of The Melic Review. Credits include
The Alaska Quarterly Review, The Pedestal, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Book Review and Rattle, among others. His newest volume,
Unexpected Light, was published in 2009 by Diminuendo Press.
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