fishing with margaret atwood

To me, it’s important to read poetry at least as often as I write my own. You find new structures, words, interesting images, things people just got right. Inspiration from this poem came from the lovely Margaret Atwood. What poets inspire you?

fishing with margaret atwood

flailing on wood grain and splinter
i am less than the sum of my parts
before you even remove my scales
and i am out of water, don’t have my sea legs about me
does it matter that i always wanted to fly
when i picked swimming so long ago?

it is my eye, you are the hook
wellington boots march blood prints down the boardwalk
as my heart beats, dangling from words
glittering on strands clear like fishing wire;
it’s not an illusion, i understand this time.

i’m nothing without my scales,

take my lungs, take my air,
i am naked, under the sun,
dry and exposed,
sun tea in a pickle jar—
that’s not water anymore.

Photo licensed through Creative Commons.