Peter's Lament

It's a bit tippy up here --
especially when the seas get choppy --
and watching for new fish,
poised to encircle the net,
waiting for that next opportunity to reel them in...

Well,
frankly,
it's exhausting.
So I'm grateful for winters,
though dragging this boat up onto the beach
can be a fearsome struggle;
glad for the rest;
eager,
come spring,
to set out again.

What do you mean, this is an outmoded activity?
You're leaving me here to rot?
I dare you to find a more efficient gathering mechanism.
What, no one eats fish anymore?


Oh.
There AREN'T any fish anymore.
I see.

* * *

"Grandpa tells me fishing is not about what you take from the water.
It's about what you give to the silence." -- Susan Wiggs, The Winter Lodge