The Dock

I’m not going to lie.
It was a
shit day.

So when I finally
gave up on it
I dragged an old chair
outside
to sit and
stare at the lake
and pout.

The kid cast a line
and hooked one–
a decent-sized one–
and he yanked it up
to show the others.

Three boys
in a circle on the dock
celebrating the catch
and another from a distance
hollering:
Are they biting?

I didn’t actually see
the fish slip back
into the dark
weedy end of the lake

but I felt
the thrust
as it darted away.