American Life in Poetry: Column 273

Equipment. I like to paint and draw, and I own enough art supplies to start my own store. And for every hobby there are lots of supplies that seem essential. In this poem we get a whole tackle box full of equipment from Michael Sowder, who lives and fishes in Utah.

Fishing, His Birthday

With adams, caddis, tricos, light cahills,

blue-wing olives, royal coachmen, chartreuse trudes,

green drakes, blue duns, black gnats, Nancy quills,

Joe’s hoppers, yellow humpies, purple chutes,

prince nymphs, pheasant tails, Eileen’s hare’s ears,

telicos, flashbacks, Jennifer’s muddlers,

Frank bugs, sow bugs, zug bugs, autumn splendors,

woolly worms, black buggers, Kay’s gold zuddlers,

clippers, tippet, floatant, spools of leader,

tin shot, lead shot, hemostats, needle nose,

rod, reel, vest, net, boots, cap, shades and waders,

gortex shell and one bent Macanudo—

I wade in a swirl of May-colored water,

cast a fine gray quill, the last tie of my father.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2009 by Michael Sowder, from his most recent book of poetry, The Empty Boat, Truman State University Press, 2004. Reprinted by permission of Michael Sowder. Introduction copyright ©2010 by The Poetry Foundation. Introduction copyright © 2009 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.