Friday, August 16, 2013

Poetry Friday -- Fly Fishing

Sun on the Mad River, by Mary Lee Hahn


Fly Fishing

The small stream
and its bank-side buffer of trees
winds through corn fields.

Do not be tricked --
the current's pull is swift.
Step slow and steady. Don't trip.

Cast with patience.
Relax and find a kind of grace
in the rhythm, in the day.

Driving home, watch --
today you might catch
not a fish, but a glimpse of a fox.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2013



Lisa has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Steps and Staircases. Click on the submit button to send in your link. Also, Lisa asks that we share, ".. something "close to your heart," sort of as another common side dish at our poetry potluck. It doesn't need to be poetry, it can just be something current you're really enjoying and would like to share with others."



19 comments:

  1. Ooooh...gorgeous photo, gorgeous poem, Mary Lee! Makes me want to be patient enough to fish although that contradicts my nature. I can't tell why, but the fox in the final stanza makes perfect sense.

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  2. Love the rhythm and the mood of this, Mary Lee. And I need to have some of this tranquility as I begin the new school year.

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  3. Lovely poem, Mary Lee! Did you indeed catch a glimpse of fox??

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    1. Yes, I did, Irene! But (poetic license) it was before we got to the river, not after!

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  4. I really enjoyed this, Mary Lee, from start to finish. Great scene-setting. The half-rhymes are splendid, and tremendous ending! Bravo!

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  5. Loved it, Mary Lee. What a treat! Beautiful, evocative...

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  6. Finding the rhythm and grace...lovely line. Love the photo. I can't wait to see the children as well.

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  7. Just curious...where is the Mad River?

    Love this stanza:
    "Cast with patience.
    Relax and find a kind of grace
    in the rhythm, in the day."

    Thank you, again, for all your support with my first time hosting Poetry Friday. Just like when one hosts a party at their house, you sometimes miss all that is going on, because you're busy getting everything ready/prepared/settled. My goal is to comment on everyone's posts--just won't get to it all today. I look forward to sampling everyone's offerings.

    Enjoy these last moments before the start of a new school year.

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  8. Beautiful words and imagery, Mary Lee!

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  9. I REALLY like this. It pulls me in. I love "relax and find a kind of grace". I also wish I had said what Steven said! There appears to me a metaphor for teaching in this poem, Mary Lee. Have a wonderful start. I type this just inches from the harbor in Maine that I adore and the light is perfect.
    Janet F.

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  10. You reeled me in with the photo and the poem. Love the thought of getting a glimpse of a fox.

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  11. Best wishes for your own kind of grace this year, Mary Lee. I do love what you do with words, ever learning (I hope) from you! Thanks!

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  12. Lovely, Mary Lee. I always know where to come for free-verse inspiration and lessons on craft. What Steven said. :)

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  13. I was struck by your words "Relax and find a kind of grace/in the rhythm, in the day." This is what we try to do as writers. Those foxes are elusive, aren't they? I caught a glimpse of one last winter as it dashed across a snowy field. He was so beautiful. When I got to school, I quickly wrote down my thoughts, which are often just as elusive as a fox!
    Thanks, as always, for your lovely poem.
    Catherine

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  14. So peaceful in the midst of this crazy time. Like several others, I love the relax and find a kind of grace/in the rhythm, in the day. And that photograph is gorgeous. Thank you, as always.

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  15. Lovely poem.. a peaceful feeling of summer coming to an end...

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  16. Fly fishing is a fine balance of peace and excitement, just like this poem. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and heart through your poems. Good luck with this school year!

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  17. I feel lucky to have caught a glimpse of your poem, Mary Lee. :)

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