1950, Cape Charles, Virginia Poem by Robert P Arthur

1950, Cape Charles, Virginia


The night my mother left
my father drank and cried
holding his glass to hide his mouth

Next day we went out for shark
my brother and I held on for pride
and jerked our lines

from the undertow. We caught dog shark
Bill's to port, mine to the right
and my father took them by their throats

Because he'd forgotten the butcher knife
(and sharks are dangerous in rocking boats)
He stood upright and didn't curse us
for pulling them in

But cursed the man and the morning
light that made him span
a boat of children
with a snapping shark in either hand

Why couldn't he have been God?

He squeezed Bill's shark until its
guts came busting out
Then smacked my shark against the
boat to break its back

Why couldn't he have been God?
I'd give the job to anyone
who could handle sharks like that