Ode to Bluegills
Though you are small,
you are mighty,
fighting like a fish ten times your size.
You make us cheer
and call for the photographer.
And you make us cringe
when we remove the hook.
Why must you swallow the fly
so far down it takes magic to extract it?
Never mind.
All turns out well for you in the end,
and you swim away gladly.
We thank you for your spiky dorsal fin,
the distinctive black beauty spot near your gill,
your iridescent scales.
We thank you for the tug on our line,
reminding us that we are connected --
the two of us; all of us.
©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017
