
Close to Coho
by John Beaton
Part IV: in the "Tight Lines" poetry series.
Morning
I walk the beach by light of pre-dawn stars,
discern the creek and track its shoreline swale
along a trace where rocks and gravel meet
and shells lie still as ivory in graves.
The tide is low and freshly off the turn.
I see the surface seam, fresh water's trail
and, through the silver dulse-weed at the mouth,
I wade to level sandy-bottomed ground.
The eel-grass lies in patches, swaying east
and tide begins to move along the coast
as salmon schools align to face its flow;
I've judged that here a shoal will swing around.
I cast my fly into the sun's first blush.
A morning breeze begins to grate its sheen,
and then I see a single coho jump,
full clear and fresh above that steely seam.
And nothing happens after that, no fish
shows elsewhere in this panoramic scene.
Evening I stand in broad salt water to my waist.
The sunset fires the mainland crags like coals;
mergansers dive for bait-fish, smooth as lead,
and coho leap to greet October skies;
their spangling splashes ring the mirrored sea;
they spring and slap, high-spirited as foals.
I see a racing bulge. I'm in its path;
a bolting coho flashes into view,
barrelling breakneck to the shallow shore,
careening past a yard from my two legs;
its chevroned wake humps by, I feel the sway,
and then the sea before me breaks in two.
About to collide, a sea-lion skids to a turn
and whorls the water hugely where I wade;
his flipper rudders strain to turn his bulk
from plunging on at closing killing speed;
upsurges gurgle as he arcs, submerged.
I stand–a one-man save-the-fish stockade.
This week’s typing tip is in response to a question by Hatches reader, Nick S. from Boise, ID. Nick wanted to know if we had any suggestions for a small, lightweight fly tying vise to use streamside, or on backcountry fly-in/ hike-in fly fishing trips.
GLOBE PEQUOT ( THE LYONS PRESS, FALCON), November 1997
Binding Type: Hardcover
Retail Price: $16.95 at the Hatches Store
ISBN: 1-55821-067-9
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