Caught a big fish years ago a pike two feet long
without bait just a hook and my red shirt
right from shore

someone cut it open slopped the guts out cooked it
we ate it for dinner later I saw another fish
looking for that fish I figured in the unfinished
house of my seven year old brain and apologized
to the deaf ear of the water sincerely
and never fished again except for love

and moonlight and ice cream the next day
after dinner when there wasn’t any
in the freezer I walked barefoot in my red shirt
again and always in those days a mile into town
for a cone better than almost anything
that’s happened since is how I remember

remembering it even though I probably had shoes on
and the water listened to every word I said
and nodded now and then so I’d know
it was paying attention and not just waiting
for its turn to speak is how I learned nature

is more civilized than civilization
is natural or something I guess like that
or different