09 Feb Back 40: Catch and Release

I looked up
And I beheld
Wildfire
In the belly of a brook trout
On the saddle of the ridge.

I knew
The day was over
When I heard it cry aloud
Just before it fell upon
The Sawtooths’ edge.

I lit my pipe
And wished
That I could paint
As Venus, unashamed,
Rose naked from her bed.

I shook the pain
From my wounded soul
Like a stray dog shakes off rain
And slowly made my way
Back to my camp again.

I hunkered down
By the ruins
Of my fire
And blew the dying coals
Into a hungry flame.

As I stared into my pyre
I remembered all I’d lost
But also all I’d gained.
I remembered why I left
But also why I came.

As I ate my beans and bread
An iron seared my brain—
Wildfire
In the belly of a brook trout
On the saddle of the ridge.

Beauty is trout, trout beauty.
Catch and release wild trout.

viking style bracelet