The Augury was Good - Dec 31 2023

 

The Augury was Good

Dec 31 2023

They say the ice is safe.

4 inches, and the fishermen are out.

They sit around a small hole

of still black water

not far from shore,

bundled up in puffy clothes

and fortified with spirits.

Uncannily

their laughter carries a long way

in the cold still air

with nothing to stop it.

Fish are an after-thought.

I walk

the dogs run

out to the middle

where I trust it's also also thick enough.

Because there always must be trust.

In the neighbour's 2-stroke auger.

In the physics of frozen water.

In the hunger of fish

swimming slowly

in the sunless depths.

Trust

despite the loud cracking sounds

under my feet,

the grinding and moaning

of the sheet of ice

as it flexes and recoils.

But the augury was good

and the ice holds.

Meanwhile

fresh fish

flop in the snow

in the shock of cold,

drowning

in the thin winter air.

On the hard surface

of certified ice

there is no safe place for fish

no community of trust;

tails slapping

and gills in their death throws.