Newsletter sign up

Be the first to know when new American Life in Poetry columns are live.

Column 273

Fishing, His Birthday

Intro by Ted Kooser
06.13.2010

Equip­ment. I like to paint and draw, and I own enough art sup­plies to start my own store. And for every hob­by there are lots of sup­plies that seem essen­tial. In this poem we get a whole tack­le box full of equip­ment from Michael Sow­der, who lives and fish­es in Utah.

Fishing, His Birthday

With adams, caddis, tricos, light cahills,
blue-wing olives, royal coachmen, chartreuse trudes,
green drakes, blue duns, black gnats, Nancy quills,
Joe’s hoppers, yellow humpies, purple chutes,
prince nymphs, pheasant tails, Eileen’s hare’s ears,
telicos, flashbacks, Jennifer’s muddlers,
Frank bugs, sow bugs, zug bugs, autumn splendors,
woolly worms, black buggers, Kay’s gold zuddlers,
clippers, tippet, floatant, spools of leader,
tin shot, lead shot, hemostats, needle nose,
rod, reel, vest, net, boots, cap, shades and waders,
gortex shell and one bent Macanudo—
I wade in a swirl of May-colored water,
cast a fine gray quill, the last tie of my father.

Share this column

Disclaimer

We do not accept unsolicited submissions

We do not accept unsolicited submissions. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2009 by Michael Sowder, from his most recent book of poetry, The Empty Boat, Truman State University Press, 2004. Reprinted by permission of Michael Sowder. Introduction copyright ©2010 by The Poetry Foundation. Introduction copyright © 2024 by The Poetry Foundation.