Nicole Yurcaba’s most recent poem to appear here was “A Subtle Proposal” (December 2017)

Fishing With My Father-in-Law
Rock Cliff Lake, April 2017
By Nicole Yurcaba

The wind heads northwest,
then lulls, then gusts again
sweeping the filament line
from my fingers as I work
loose the knot loops I can’t
quite figure. He says he’ll
cut the line with his pocket-
knife, re-rig, rebait,
but I reassure him that I’ve
figured out which way to pull
the line to form a loop to
pull through the rig.

I’ve loosened the knot;
it’s just a matter of willing my
fingers to work; there’s no need
to cut the line. He can rebait
the hook once I finish, and
he can cast northeast, let
the line drift into a different
hole where I saw trout
feeding while I worked free
swivel, line, and sinker.