the sunfish

you feel compassion
for the sunfish
as you reel it in
on a thin filament
line. his life was
so sweet and easy,
sublime, below
the surface of the
water, his sunlit
body at ease
in the currents.
his sheen a yellow
shellac of flowers.
and now this.
this steel barb
caught on his lip.
tugging him to place
he has no business
being in.