I am not your "Sargasso Sea".
I do not come from those waters,
of entangling weeds,
gorged on life.
I am no mermaid
to be ensnared in your trawling nets.
I am a big mouth bass.
I swim in different currents.
River currents, wild currents,
an anxious thrall,
thrash and thrum,
must keep moving.
No time. Never, never time.
Time floats on
as I slip into the eddies,
swirling with the minnows,
against tumbled stones.
Here the river commands the sea.
Someday I might visit,
if you don't hook me first,
but your lure isn't flashy enough
to fool this wizened bass.
I have been caught before by false promises;
Metal hooks adorn my lips,
but I always managed
to snap the line.
I am not your "Sargasso Sea".
I am a river child,
the big silver fish you can't catch
with your nets, your lures,
your taunting lines.
Come, swim with me,
rush with me headlong
into the eddies and minnow pools
before the wild current carries me away.
