Raymond Leonard Skipper

The Catch

Nudged awake while my mind was still sleeping,

“Are you coming with me today?”

I then dressed and we left the house creeping

To his car then we both drove away

The sky was as dark as darkness could be,

I fell asleep along the way

At some point we arrived and nudged once again,

With the pre-dawn shadows at play

My Dad had brought me fishing

Something I had never done

It was cold, it was dark, it was dreary

My furthest impression of fun

With our two lines cast, we stood silent

Myself with a dazed sullen stare

When the line on my rod went from slack to tight

And jiggled from here to there

He dropped his rod and coached me on

He told me what to do

I pulled a fish up on my line

Ashore between us two

“You caught a fish” Dad said to me

He wore the biggest smile

I had no clue just what this meant

And stood there for awhile

Too small to keep, Dad threw the fish back

I watched it swim away

The sun came up, we packed our gear

Together, drove away

Now the days would pass by fast,

Like the blades of a spinning fan

From that small boy by the river

Into the makings of a man

Through the times we fought

Tough lessons were taught

At times I’d contemplate,

“It’s better to be an hour early son,

Than to be one minute late”

A truce was made, angst placed side

The father, son bond grew

My daughters came, their kids as well

A different point of view

Before my eyes as I saw him pass

His lessons came to me

“Never give up” “Never Walk away son”

“Nothing in life is free”

Now I think of that time in the darkness

While I look at the stars as I wish

I might be with that man who was smiling

At a boy who just caught his first fish.

- by Glen Goodwin