“Morning Haul” by Hope Coulter

Hope Coulter

MORNING HAUL

Just as, every morning,
my grandfather checked his trotlines,

throwing out gar and snapping turtles,
pulling in bream and catfish

and sometimes a bass
green-wet turning white in the sun,

so I, in a shallower world,
check the e-mail that came in the night,

throwing out ugly ones
with viral attachments like teeth.

What a decline

        from the mist
            coming off
                    the pond, the slanting

            sun, the knobby
                knees of the cypress, the long
            walk

    back up the pier.

from Rattle #36, Winter 2011

Rattle Logo