Ode to a Fish Loving Father
by Jenny Nichols Glennon
It started perched on your hip.
Watching as the fish would rise and dip.
You’d point them out
And then you’d say
We’ll fish together, we will, someday.
I tried to learn, I really did
but I just wasn’t that kid.
It was less about catching fish as I grew,
What I loved instead was time with you.
Walking paths and following streams
Both often lost in daydreams.
In a world of busy, fast and go go go
You taught me to embrace the slow.
To appreciate silence, never rushing to fill the space
That being in my own company was something to embrace
To be still and listen
To see dew drops on spider webs and how they glisten
To look closer to see what grows.
To be aware of the changing seasons, the ebbs and flows.
To identify bird calls, and hawks on the wing.
And laugh with crows as they prance and sing.
We’d appraise the flowers peeking out
And upon seeing poison ivy we’d shout!
As the breeze blew the years away,
It’s clear you still love fishing just as much today.
And though I caught far fewer fish than you,
There are many things that I hold true.
Your love of beasts both great and small
Your awe of trees both sapling and tall
You see the world with respect
And a subtle humor that is not hard to detect
And on the water or in the woods, the things that you showed me
Will always represent the very best ways to be.
This love of nature has informed all I do
So most of all I’d like to say thank you!
An ode to a fish loving father
With love, from a camera wielding daughter.
This series of stories about daughters originally appeared in TROUT Magazine.
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