Cormorant Fishing
Only a cormorant
can love a bird like me,
goofy looking,
with black plumage,
and a bill with a hooked
tip.
Any fish I grab I slip
deftly into my pocket,
my pouch.
If I don't sail back
with my catch, my boss
drags me back
by my roped ankle.
A noose loosely tied
around my neck
guarantees I won't swallow
his profits.
After he plucks a big fish
from my throat,
he offers me my wages
--encouragement
or maybe the slimmest
of fishes.
Then I'm underwater again,
chasing my prey, forgetting
who I work for,
the adrenaline of the chase
fueling a joy
soon stolen from me.
Over and over I dive,
culling a prize, rising
to the surface, its scales
shimmering like coins.
For a moment life is good--
but not as good as when I doze
on a piling...
sadly, the days ahead
lined up like fish drying
on racks.
Cormorant Fishing
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- Posts: 1619
- Joined: 01 Jun 2008, 09:17
Re: Cormorant Fishing
I wasn't familiar with comarants so had to look them up.
Fascinating. Good metaphor on corporate life, or life in general, how we have so much less power than we believe. This makes me a little angry. It's a good poem
Fascinating. Good metaphor on corporate life, or life in general, how we have so much less power than we believe. This makes me a little angry. It's a good poem