(My heart-felt apologies to Deacon Dodgson)
T’was brilliant as chrome-metal mesh;
Did gleam and glitter ‘neath the blade.
All mirrored was the bluegill flesh,
And in a wink fillet’d.
Beware the barb’d hook, my friend!
That flies about and nips the skin!
Beware that fearsome, awful fiend;
The earnest fisherman.
He took his tackle box in hand;
Long time the wily fish he sought.
So rested he on spit of land,
And nodded off in thought.
And as with Walton’s dreams he slept,
The blue-gill school, from near the dam,
Came swimming through the murky depths
And bubbled as they swam!
One, two! One, two! And weight by weight,
The bobbered line went all a’whack.
They left the hook, and with the bait
They went a’swimming back.
Then to the world he did awake,
Come to his senses, but too late!
Oh, loathsome luck! Mischance! Mistake!
No fish for his blue plate.
T’was brilliant as chrome-metal mesh;
Did gleam and glitter ‘neath the blade.
All mirrored was the bluegill flesh,
And in a wink fillet’d.
K.C. Ball lives in Seattle, a stone’s throw from Puget Sound. Her poetry and fiction has been published, or accepted for publication, at Every Day Poets, Every Day Fiction, Boston Literary Magazine, Fear & Trembling, Murky Depths and Morpheus Tales. K.C. blogs at http://www.nowplayinginseattle.blogspot.com.
14 Responses to “JAB A HOOK IN • by K.C. Ball”
Comments
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April 15th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Very clever!
You know when you’ve been Jabberwocked.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:59 am
[...] everyday poets My poem, Jab A Hook In, is featured at Every Day Poets [...]
April 15th, 2009 at 5:36 am
Great fun! Expertly crafted. A five from me.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:46 am
Oh no! My favourite, and about the only poem I know by heart! This feels sacriligious!
April 15th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Good children’s poem in the style of the English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (pseudonym Lewis Carroll), who usually wrote for girls because they were simple passive onlookers at the scene, could be thrown around, and could basically be ignored as protaganists. It probably brought calming relief from the hardness of his main occupation, mathematics. In the final paragraph he emphasizes the need for child readers to face reality: there is always another worm for bate; will there always be another you?
April 15th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Oh, too good, KC!
–dj
April 15th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Very witty and clever…but no mome raths?
April 15th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
What fun! I really enjoyed this.
April 15th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Robin: It’s one of my favorites, too. Think of it as homage, not sacrilege.
April 15th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Big smiles for K.C.’s “Jab a Hook In”.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:31 am
Lovely poem KC. Gave it a five, would have given more if allowed.
April 16th, 2009 at 12:48 am
Sorry, Sharon. No mome raths — just hooks and lines and sinkers.
April 16th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Very clever, K.C. I love the original, and I always enjoy a good homage.
April 17th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Very clever and witty – from an ardent fan of the original…