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Per Diem Archive: C. L. Robinson Sept. 2014, Gone Fishing

GONE FISHING – a collection of haiku exploring the rod and the reel, the lure and the line. British poet Ted Hughes once said, “Fishing provides that connection with the whole living world. It gives you the opportunity of being totally immersed, turning back into yourself in a good way.” Fishing is a time-tested tradition of the human race, one that allows for solitude and reflection, but it can also provide that rare opportunity for real one-on-one time with a friend or loved one. In a very real sense fishing pulls nature closer to us. Of course, we feel a kinship with the inhabitants of waters shallow and deep. And it does seem as though we can reel in the moon and the stars, or rub shoulders with those other fishermen—the birds. So grab your gear. You bring the worms and I’ll bring the beer. See you on the water. (Thank you to Charles Trumbull for sharing a catch of over 3,000 fishing haiku from his Haiku Database project, and to all the poets who allowed me to feature their haiku in this per diem.)

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Author: Catherine J.S. Lee
morning hush
the fisherman casts
a thread of sunlight
Author: Fay Aoyagi
lure fishing to catch her before reincarnation
Author: Bruce H. Feingold
old enough
to just listen
trout rising
Author: Lorin Ford
fish story
a cormorant spreads its wings
                                                     w i d e r
Author: Garry Gay
Early morning
fishermen tell stories
waiting for the tide
Author: Ferris Gilli
autumn deepens—
a fish slides down
the cormorant’s throat
Author: Carolyn Hall
baiting one fish
with another
autumn dawn
Author: Jim Kacian
catch and release
a little shine left
on my fingers
Author: Michael McClintock
a fishing fleet
hanging in the clouds . . .
the spring horizon
Author: Stephen A. Peters
fishing
with dad again
the ripples
Author: John Stevenson
evening calm . . .
the fisherman’s
smoke rings
Author: Randy Brooks
two lines in the water . . .
not a word between
father and son
Author: William Cullen Jr
a salmon leaps
Grandpa starts to sing
with a brogue
Author: Christopher Herold
sun-green water
      beyond the algae
      the shapes of fish
Author: Tom Painting
opening day
the drift of conversation
along the trout stream
Author: Charles Trumbull
almost breakfast time—
fumbling in the coffee can
for a nightcrawler
Author: Ce Rosenow
cleaning trout
in the late day heat—
blood beneath his nails
Author: George Swede
the hooked fish’s
last gasp . . .
its eye on me
Author: Aubrie Cox Warner
father-daughter talk
my fishing lure
caught in the moon
Author: w. f. owen
distant thunder
a fish’s tail
slaps his arm
Author: Dave Baldwin
pan-fried trout
I learn something new
about my father
Author: Rebecca Lilly
Fine spring rain—
the jerk of a fishing line
through the river mist
Author: Peter Yovu
the last light glints
off a mayfly
off a trout
Author: Wally Swist
casting into a pool
from the center of himself
fly fisherman
Author: Marian Olson
winter moon
the fisherman
warm with whiskey
Author: Yu Chang
winter stars
the fishing holes
left behind
Author: Jeff Hoagland
a tangled nest
of fishing line
spring birdsong
Author: Helga Härle
fish jumping
all night
shooting stars
Author: John Barlow
skinning squid
the deep-tanned hands
of the fisherman
Author: George G. Dorsty
a keeper moon . . .
the old fisherman
lets out more line
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