WHAT'S UNDER

fish down there    tadpoles    smallmouth bass

red-eyed     bicycle tires   musky pike

walleye and drum

a fishing hut that fell through the ice four years ago

three cases of beer    the owner out for a leak

made it to shore

perch    sunfish    catfish    rosary beads   bibles

carp    bullets   the sturgeon finally returned

they bump around in the murk

nose a ten-horsepower motor

a rotary phone

garpike down there and minnows in shallows

risking jars and small nets

minnows like sudden cartoons

the neighbour fishes

but not through the ice

wood ducks in spring   dabble

feet paddle the water

mallards all summer long   tipping up

going down