Saturday, July 28, 2012

Distance for Sunday Scribblings


The boat rocks.
Birds fly around
eating the chum
my husband
put out.

We sit,
waiting for a tuna
to take our bait.
"I blind the mackerel,"
he says, "because

if they see a tuna
coming, they'll
try to avoid it."
I picture
that fish

doomed to swim
around and around,
go nowhere
and, now, can't
even see

the aqua bubbles,
the sun melting
through the water,
other fish,
and his death.

We are quiet.
"I wish you hadn't
told me that,"
I say through
the lump

in my throat.
He laughs.
I get up
but there is no
place to go.

I need to put distance
between us,
The sun blinds me.
I can't see how
to get away.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

11 comments:

Old Egg said...

This is a quite horrific post. How can you create the distance you need on that small boat? It is enough to put you off eating fish...if it wasn't so good for you, that is.

Joe Caporale said...

:)

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2011/january/food/mercury-in-tuna/overview/index.htm

Jae Rose said...

Yes there is a sense of suffocation..claustrophobia..on this boat..for every fish that takes the bait..there must be one that gets away..jae

Amrit Sinha said...

I liked the power in this piece ... i too had a lump in my throat while reading it ... superb writing :-)

keiths ramblings said...

My goodness, this is quite disturbing. Brilliant writing.

Anonymous said...

I will remember this, Linda.

joanne said...

The one time I went fishing, a seagull grabbed the bait, and then he was hooked. Made my stomach turn with horror and guilt. As for fish, I try not to think of any of my favorite foods before they were fillets.
I loved this poem.

Granny Smith said...

Such a feeling of imprisonment on that little boat! You have captured it vividly.

Josie Two Shoes said...

This speaks of far more damage than to fishes eyes, in the words of confinement and the heart's desire to escape from all that is mindless and uncaring. Hauntingly great writing, Linda!

totomai said...

these are the moments that you wish there are enough space...

TTT said...

You have captured the emotions so well .... I loved your writing .

Linda's Poems