I grip its tail, hammock its back,
and swing its head down with a crack
on rock, then feel its spasms judder
through my hands as, with a shudder,
it stills,
a grand finale that fulfills
some ancient impulse in my mind.
Poking my finger through a gill,
I cause the raker fronds to spill
blood that drip drips as I carry
the silver deadweight of my quarry,
my kill,
toward a tidal pool
the sunset has incarnadined.
My knife begins behind its throat
and blood-clouds billow out and bloat
then seep into an outflow, seaward,
where baitfish burrow in the seaboard
in schools,
their heads in sand, small fools
kidding themselves they're hard to find.
I slit its stomach. From that sac
their half-digested eyes peer back,
sandlance dumbstruck at being hunted
in shallow flats this prowler haunted,
this fish
whose every feeding flash
signalled flesh to seals behind.
Somewhere nearby a black bear roars;
wolves salivate; an antler gores
a starving cougar; orcas cripple
humpbacks, bite their fins, then grapple
great bulks
till bleeding, savaged hulks
sink; and then there's humankind.
No kindness here. This salmon swam
full speed to seize my lure then, wham,
became a madcap, hell-for-leather,
death-row inmate on a tether
and fed
the caveman in my head.
This coast is one big hunting blind.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
This is a beautiful poem on nature and fishing having stunning expression with nice diction. Inscription is so touching and haunting. I know more about the poem from your Poet's Note. I appreciate the way of presentation. I quote....Poking my finger through a gill, I cause the raker fronds to spill blood that drip drips as I carry the silver deadweight of my quarry, my kill, Thanks for sharing this gem.10
Sorry, Kumarmani. It appears I missed your very gracious comment when you posted it. I'm glad you enjoyed the poem and I I thank you for your much appreciated response.