THE BIG CATCH

Wind drifts my boat
toward shore and my
hook snags, then breaks
my line. Marooned
and hookless, I watch
another fisher toss
his line from the dock
across the pond, jerk
and set, reel in a big
bass that shimmers
in sun.  He unhooks
and releases, then casts
again, catches again,
releases again that 
sparkling quiver.
I lay and watch,
and forget my rod
in that perfect 
sunlit shimmer.

Richard Dinges, Jr. lives and works by a pond among trees and grassland, along with his wife, two dogs, three cats, and six chickens.  Wild Violets, Exacting Clam, Packingtown Review, Pulsar, and El Portal Journal most recently accepted his poems for their publications.