letting go

the boy could not believe how hard
the fish pulled at his
bending rod, stretching
the clear line to a point
that he thought it might break.
he braced his soggy sneaker
against a rock and held his
ground. no one else was there.
it was early morning and he
he had wandered away from the cottage
with his tackle box, his rod, his
small jar of worms.
patiently he cast
into the calm bay his hook
and sinker with bait attached.
he wanted to yell for help
as the fish yanked twisting
his slender wrists, but
they'd be sleeping. they might
think that he was in trouble,
perhaps drowning, wading out
into the water as he had done
the summer before, nearly
disappearing as a gold flat
sunfish swam casually before
his panicked eyes. no, he'd
bring this fish in. he'd
catch it and take the hook out
on his own, put the fish into
a bucket then carry it to the house.
but the fish pulled again and again,
fighting hard to go deeper
and farther out into the blue
stretch of water.
already the story was forming
in his mind, the tale
he'd tell around the table,
how large the fish was
if it got away, how it
sparkled in the sunlight
as it rose and jumped
snapping clean the line, but
it wasn't over yet. he pulled
and reeled in some line,
more line, more. it was still
fighting but it seemed
to tire, this fish he had
caught. it wearied and now as
it came towards shore as if giving
up the boy almost felt sorry for
it, seeing the ripple of its fins
swirling, breaking the surface.
slowly it swam in to the rocks,
the fish in the cool air as the boy
lifted the line,
holding the heavy fish up and free
from the water.
it was magnificent. he had never
seen a fish quite so beautiful.
he readied the bucket to drop
him into, but then thought
differently and slid the hook
out from the hardened lip.
he grasped the thick wet fish
in his small hands, then
he let it go. let the fish,
glimmering silver and white,
flecks of blue and green tinsel
along it's scales, slip back
into the early morning water. he
would never speak of it again.
saving this moment his whole life.
remembering this fish and how he
let it go.