In The Deep Channel Poem by William Stafford

In The Deep Channel

Rating: 2.8


Setting a trotline after sundown
if we went far enough away in the night
sometimes up out of deep water
would come a secret-headed channel cat,


Eyes that were still eyes in the rush of darkness,
flowing feelers noncommittal and black,
and hidden in the fins those rasping bone daggers,
with one spiking upward on its back.


We would come at daylight and find the line sag,
the fishbelly gleam and the rush on the tether:
to feel the swerve and the deep current
which tugged at the tree roots below the river.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Bernard F. Asuncion 16 December 2018

A pretty poem by William Stafford👍👍

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Christina Chin 16 December 2018

find the line sag, the fishbelly gleam and the rush on the tether: Beautiful lines.

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Kumarmani Mahakul 16 December 2018

A beautiful poem with brilliant expression.

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A good poem to feel the swerve and the deep current

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Adrian Flett 16 December 2018

The current that tugged at the tree roots is in the depths of this outward description of river fishing..

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Edward Kofi Louis 16 December 2018

Fishbelly gleam! ! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

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