[This week we’ll be saying goodbye to summer with three summer-themed poems I wrote during the summer.  This first number, based on my fishing trip, is a parody of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.]

The Rime of the Anglyng Touryst
by Caleb Coy

It is an angling Tourist,
And he renteth a cheap rod.
“I’ve cut my shrimp in quarters.
Will I catch me a cod?”

Optimistic as the rising sun,
He casts out with a wink
(Because it’s all in the wrist,
Or so he’s been told to think).

He feels a little wiggle
He feels a little pull
“I think I’ve got a live one!
I’ve yanked him from the shoal!”

Alas, on pillars snagged—
It appears that when he cast
A wave brought his line inward
To the pier the hook held fast!

He gives a friendly wave
To a stranger down the pier,
Who knows what he is doing—
(That’s why he fishes here).

Then comes another tug—
“This time it is for real!”
A big knot he untangles,
But soon he’ll have his meal.

Perched above, a pelican—
Patiently it stares,
Chin tucked with the posture
Of a fasting saint in prayer.
[Dedicated to Charley Gwaltney]