Running Lines at 2 A.M.


Minnow hooks like Milky
Way stars zigzag across darken
waters.  Full moon climbs
higher as we check the troutlines.

Lightning bugs float through
pecan trees as I grasp the sunken
line to tug on it.  Mine's empty, but
something yanks back on my cousin's.

Armed with a stringer and a net,
we dip into the ice cream
cold waters of Gentry Creek.
Spring breeze picks goosebump skin.

Chest high water reveals three catfish
and a turtle dangling off eaten hooks.
We string out catch, re-bait the line,
and go to the next one.


--- by David Segrest, Texas Tech Univeersity