LOOKING INTO POOLED WATER AND THE HOME OF THE BIG FISH WHERE JOSH GOES

 

LOOKING INTO POOLED WATER 

AND THE HOME OF THE BIG FISH WHERE JOSH GOES 

                  ..why not

                  sink poems deep into Sun-Weave River,

                  talk things over?

                           Tu Fu, At Sky’s End

You give me clues to your nature

with each fish you release into wild

water, Josh. The character

you recognize in the fish

is what you seek to know in yourself.

You are one of the living creatures

inhabiting Turtle Island. Not all who seek

ever find themselves in water. Still,

these same ones, whether in neckties

or Carhartts, will call themselves

teachers, owners, executives. Ones

with savvy, like yourself and your buddies,

know what happens to fishermen

hanging their rods too close to Red’s

on the Yakima.. These books of poems

for your graduation, both by Gary Snyder, Listen!

Put the little one, Turtle Island,

in the glove box of your truck--

The big one, hard cover, carry it

to college and into the shop—it contains

everything that’s ever been written

about what’s wild.

Love you so much, Gpa

Jim 

7 June 2024