Commencment Poem by Phillip Erb

Grab the images -
freeze-frame -
A fish eyeballing the bait
Circling ‘round on its
Sunday afternoon swim
Nonchalant, looking down
at a life-long career's
Worth of academy awards
In a single scene
All the smiles and unassuming
Nods and waves among other
Effortlessly executed gestures
So polite, precise, and carefree
Convey no hint, nor the slightest
Suggestion to the schoolmates
That this catfish intends to
Skip the next lesson and move
Right on to lunch
The lesson is unsubstantial anyway
After all tomorrow's as good
a day as any to learn
about the mythical monster
the old ones call the Fisherman;
Salivating at the chance to indulge
One very minor, gluttonous sin
A mouth smiling fin to fin
Grins in victory snatching the worm within
Then reels in shock and horror
Realizing the hook plunged
Through the gill