by
From Renaming the Streets
Louisiana State
University Press, 1985
© 1985 by John Stone. Used with permission.
(
Because I was 37 and he was 10
I was presumed and of course
to know everything important
plus
how to take the fish off the hook
I'd been told largemouth
and striped bass
both either
waited for us below
the still crystal of the lake
I had no expectation though
of actually catching a fish
when somehow we did
After we hauled it heavily
in over the gunwales
like a glittering glory
no way was I about to touch
that wide mouth, those razor fins
gills, those sparkling cold-blooded
scales
until all spasm stopped
To this day my son
may think the way
to take a fish off the hook
is to place it, hook still intact
in the bottom of the boat
place a paddle over the fish
and keep your foot gently but steadfastly
on the paddle on the fish
After the flailing and flopping
I managed with something like
experience to get the hook out
Then as morning broke over us
we made our slow electric way
back to the boathouse
That fish won for us
a trophy
which I keep here on my desk
to remind me of that morning and of
how unexpected the end may be
how hungry
how shining
John Stone is a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. He is the author of four books of poetry, all published by Louisiana State University Press; the most recent is Where Water Begins: New Poems and Prose (November 1998). In The Country Of Hearts is a book of his collected essays, most of which appeared originally in the New York Times Magazine. Stone has given talks and readings in 36 U.S. states.
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The Bass also appears in Blood and Bone: Poems by Physicians (University of Iowa Press 1998).
