Inspired by Uncle Bob’s First Fish,
A Pompano, 1928
HOOKED by Bill Newby
the point dents
a dimple
then a furrow
then a pit
breaking
fast-as-water
diving into hidden guts
with the firmness of a contract
whose clauses are binding
and where penalties fall fast and hard
the blade slides forward
flesh hugging the bevel
caressing its cold symmetry
then gracefully parting
in a flange of speckled mucus
my guts tighten
my eyelids zip
no splitting, spitting sickness
is wanted now
and the knife saws gritting
through the bone
Bill Newby was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio where he later worked as an English teacher, school administrator, college advisor and adjunct lecturer. He considers himself an “everyday poet” – writing about the small, everyday events – recording moments of celebration, complaint, concern and comedy. His work has appeared in Whiskey Island, Ohio Teachers Write, Bluffton Breeze, Sixfold and the Island Writers’ Network’s Time and Tide. He now lives with his wife in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.