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She Always Got Her Fish
by Larry Pace
[Larry Pace pens this childhoodrecollection of his Aunt Ruby,
a master at catching catfish
in Georgia ponds.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- She Always Got Her Fish
She sat in a folding chair
on the red bank of the brown pond
smoked a cigarette
and played a game of wits
with the big catfish
at the bottom of the brown pond
each knew the other by reputation:
the woman who always got her fish
the fish that always got away
how could it be that she would know
the exact instant that the fish
would think she wasn't thinking
it would steal the juicy worm?
but the woman knew
always knew
she thought like a fish
on the red bank of the brown pond
the small boy
watched his aunt jerk her cane pole sharply
without warning
as she yelled, "Got 'im!
He's a big 'un, all right!"
the pole bent and nearly broke
the line moved crazily in the water
she stood up and did battle with the fish
and finally pulled it out of the pond
onto the red bank
its smooth wet skin glistened in the sun
and the small boy
on the red bank of the brown pond
was afraid of the big fish
with its sharp spines
and its cat whiskers
but proud of his aunt
who had done what no one had ever done
she had caught the big catfish
at the bottom of the brown pond
that always got away
until it faced the woman
on the red bank of the brown pond
who always got her fish
Larry Pace is a management consultant. He earned the Ph.D. in industrial psychology from the University of Georgia, and has served as college professor, college dean, MBA program director, internal and external consultant, business owner, and a manager for a Fortune 100 firm.
Larry has published more than 80 articles, chapters, and reviews, and has co-authored a book on employee assistance programs. He also writes poetry and enjoys teaching poetic form. He lives in Shreveport, Louisiana.
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