The Fish
I caught a tremendous fish
and held him beside the boat
half out of water, with my hook
fast in a corner of his mouth.
He didn't fight.
He hadn't fought at all.
He hung a grunting weight,
battered and venerable
and homely. Here and there
his brown skin hung in strips
like ancient wallpaper,
and its pattern of darker brown
was like wallpaper:
shapes like full-blown roses
stained and lost through age.
He was speckled and barnacles,
fine rosettes of lime,
and infested
with tiny white sea-lice,
and underneath two or three
rags of green weed hung down.
While his gills were breathing in
the terrible oxygen
--the frightening gills,
fresh and crisp with blood,
that can cut so badly--
I thought of the coarse white flesh
packed in like feathers,
the big bones and the little bones,
the dramatic reds and blacks
of his shiny entrails,
and the pink swim-bladder
like a big peony.
I looked into his eyes
which were far larger than mine
but shallower, and yellowed,
the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil
seen through the lenses
of old scratched isinglass.
They shifted a little, but not
to return my stare.
--It was more like the tipping
of an object toward the light.
I admired his sullen face,
the mechanism of his jaw,
and then I saw
that from his lower lip
--if you could call it a lip
grim, wet, and weaponlike,
hung five old pieces of fish-line,
or four and a wire leader
with the swivel still attached,
with all their five big hooks
grown firmly in his mouth.
A green line, frayed at the end
where he broke it, two heavier lines,
and a fine black thread
still crimped from the strain and snap
when it broke and he got away.
Like medals with their ribbons
frayed and wavering,
a five-haired beard of wisdom
trailing from his aching jaw.
I stared and stared
and victory filled up
the little rented boat,
from the pool of bilge
where oil had spread a rainbow
around the rusted engine
to the bailer rusted orange,
the sun-cracked thwarts,
the oarlocks on their strings,
the gunnels--until everything
was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!
And I let the fish go.
poem by Elizabeth Bishop
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Hung Up On You
Orbison/melson
Hooked on the touch of your hand, high on how you understand
Lost when you whispered hello ,something in your eyes said dont go
I just had to stay, couldnt go away from you, you knew what to do to get me
Hung up on you,hung up on you,hung up on you,hung up on you
You knew, the first time we met that I could never forget
You held me so close to you, I could never get over you
You were so aware how to make me care and keep me
Hung up on you,hung up on you,hung up on you,hung up on you
Yeah, you got me where you wanted me, I am where I really want to be
Hung up,hung up,hung up on you
Im so hung up on you that I dont know what I would do without you
Oh it will take me forever to get enough of you and I cant help it if im
Hung up on you,hung up on you,hung up on you baby,hung up on you
Hung up on you,hung up on you...
song performed by by Roy Orbison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sea Encounter
I caught a massive shark
and kept it beside the raft
half out of the nightmare waters
with its head dangling from the
hook.
It gaped at me and didn’t attack.
It didn’t even flinch, or roar -
It was silent as a shark.
It desired life with its weight
Being big and bigger,
Thrashed and assaulted
by the sea creatures. Where are
the other fish? In the sea
where they dashed and whirled
and slept. This one
has now ended like a ghost.
The other fish do not mind:
It is covered with ruined scales,
Hard and close-packed.
Its gills were consuming
the abhorrent oxygen
- the scaly gills,
exhilarating with blood,
that can damage us somehow -
I wondered of the flesh,
rubbery and not fleshy like other fishes
Of the deep blue sea.
I wondered of the different skeleton,
That dinosaur skeleton,
the colours that were the same,
the same colours that would permeate it.
Eyes were no goodness, but
Evil was their intention.
It lunged -
I don’t know how!
Perhaps the flip would drag me under,
And keep me busy paddling
Enough to sink me down
And devour me.
But I was wise and wary
To survive the whole encounter.
poem by Naveed Akram
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rainbow Shower
Hey rainbow shower, rainbow shower
shower on me, shower on me..
Pick a pink flower, a shy pink flower
and shower on me, shower on me
Hey rainbow shower, I m lost in a hey
Sprinkle the purple orchids n roses
and take me to the bay, oh rainbow shower...
just flower on me, flower on me..
Hey rainbow shower, drench me with colors
cozy blues green gold and yellows,
sparkle the light with shades bright
I m crazy after you, my rainbow shower...
Hey rainbow shower, rainbow shower
Can you dance wid me, yaa dance wid me
Play the tunes of the skies, big grey blues n wise
oh rainbow shower, my rainbow shower! !
poem by Sanjay Kamlakar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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This Is No Fish Story
We had been up and down Redwood Creek
For what seemed to me to be all day
Watching my grandfather fish for salmon
We started at the mouth of the river
Hiked over sand rocks and slippery green moss
The only reason I was there was
The fried chicken and potato salad
My grandmother made the night before
Lunch seemed so far away
My grandfather was out of sight
He had worked his way upstream
When we heard him yell 'FISH ON! '
My grandmother who had been hanging back with me
Left me in the sand
I had to move fast to catch up
Moving around large pieces of driftwood
He had certainly hooked something
His rod bending if half then straightening
As he let line out
With the reel's drag on
I knew how to fish
I just didn't like to
I had no patience
I wasn't like bird hunting
If I got bored bird hunting
When I was by myself
With just my dog
I could take a shot anyway
Just for practice
To get the dog used to the noise
Because I had no patience
At the age of twelve
I had never seen so much line out before
He kept backing further up the wide beach
It looked to me as if the fish knew the way
And was headed back to the ocean
Hook in his mouth
My guess was he was no longer
In the mood for spawning
He had my grandfather on
Nothing personal on either side
My grandfather wanted to land the salmon
The salmon it appeared wanted
My grandfather in the water
This primal tug of war
Went on for some time
The salmon tried everything
It tried going behind submerged trees
It woud take a run
Straight at the beach
My grandfather reeling in the slack
As fast as he could
The salmon would then jump high
Doubling back away yanking on the line
Trying to dislodge the hook
Or snap the line (he'd been on before)
They were both getting tired
My grandfather timed the next
Pull on his fishing rod
With the jump of the salmon
Too close to shore this time
The beast was on the beach in front of me
My grandfather was still reeling in line
He knew it wasn't landed yet
He was hollering for my grandmother
To grab a piece of driftwood
To club the monster
Who was glaring at me with one eye
His other eye was in the sand
My grandfather's shinning metal lure
Stuck out of a bloody mouth
Gills were grasping for oxygen in dry air
I swear I saw in that eye the reflection
Of my grandmother running
A hunk of driftwood in hand
The eye saw it too
With one last flop like a large wrestler
Just before the count of three
He went up into the air
Snapped the line hit the water and was gone
I'm not sure what pound test the line was
Whatever it was it wasn't enough
My gandfather's favorite lure
With his hand-tied leader
Were following their catch
As fast as they could
Not knowing it was they
That had been caught
poem by Tom J. Mariani
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Hello, Rainbow!
Rainbow, Rainbow
that was her nickname.
A name she had obtained,
for all the colors she'd appreciate.
Rainbow, Rainbow
that was her calling
to come out in style to show the worlds vibrant.
Rainbow, Rainbow
they laughed at her colors
said she was different
not normal like others.
Rainbow, Rainbow
they took her as a joke.
Just a mere girl looking for attention you know?
Rainbow, Rainbow
lover of rain
not a care in the world of what other people say.
Rainbow, Rainbow
she started too change
The world saw her brightly
now shes all black and grey.
Rainbow, Rainbow
why goes this way.
We've all secretly loved you.
So why not stay the same!
Rainbow, Rainbow
you bring us joy
You shed light too our day.
So go back to your ways
Rainbow, Rainbow
we appreciate your love!
We see differently now
so stay who you are.
Rainbow, Rainbow!
That's who I am.
A girl of 14
who is oddly at best.
Rainbow, Rainbow!
Everyone calls me that.
I'm just a use for you all
, but i don't mind that.
Rainbow, Rainbow
A mirror image I am.
A reflection of colors
that most people don't understand.
Rainbow, Rainbow
you called my name?
Why hello I'm here.
To shed light to your day
poem by Michelle Mawyin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rainbow On A Morning
Thanks Dark - for the nightmares!
Rain bleeding all over me,
Like swarms of needling gnats
God what a night!
I parted the curtains of my ragged tent-
My little hellhole
A single crepuscular ray
Sneaked through a small rent in the filth
Of crawling clouds
I stared cynically
But yep! I admit, the rain was dying down-
My canvas yammered less
Was Nature having a tea break?
Another ray, fewer drops, lifting hope:
A winning sun!
A bird told the story on her flight;
Even she was looking over at the prism-
The over-arching schism through the gloom
Uplifted, upstanding, I even smiled;
When Nature turns and shows Her brighter side-
The one with rainbows on a morning
Dusted with a fine sprinkle of rain-
Then She has reminded us:
Catch Her at Her best
Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010
Rainbow=rainbow=rainbow=rainbow
rainbow rainbow rainbow prism
Rainbow=rainbow=rainbow=rainbow
rainb ow rainbow rainbow schism
rainbow rainbow rainbowism
poem by Mark R Slaughter
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Life Is Like Rainbow!
Life is like a rainbow,
you need both
sun and rain to make it appear,
and one who observe,
Life is that rainbow appearing
with Energy and matter, Self is the observer!
Life is like rainbow needs both Sun and rain to spread it colours,
Walk along the garden path,
Or trek along mountain forest paths,
Life spreads its colours,
In flowers and butterflies,
Flora and fauna!
Life spread its colours like rainbow in every ecosystem,
May green mountains,
Shining beneath surface of lake,
May be in hot deserts,
or in cold polar continents!
Life is like rainbow need Life and habitat are two things to spreads its colours!
Life is like rainbow needs food and love to spread its colours!
Life is like rainbow needs love and compassion to spread it colours!
life is like Rainbow spreads colours need lover and beloved in their eyes!
Life is like rainbow that needs desires an ambitions to spread it colours!
Life is like rainbow need feelings and thoughts to spread its colours!
Life is like rainbow that needs children and parents to spread colours,
Life is like rainbow that needs kids and their innocent thoughts to spread it colours,
Life is like rainbow that needs wisdom and patience in elders to spread its colours!
Life is like rainbow that needs two things in teenagers energy and dreams to spread its colours!
Life is like rainbow that needs sky and observer,
Some feel rainbow
is illusion like mirage,
But some manage to bridge between life and soul!
Rainbow colours found in every soap bubble,
bubbles grow and shine,
spread colours before they burst and die, .
Strange feeling they create,
Spread their message,
Just like colours spread on their face!
For a scientist life is like rain bow that needs rain and sun,
For a philosopher,
Life is like rainbow needs illusion and misidentification,
Rainbow is illusion created by elements and light,
just like life and world!
It is natural and nature's MAYA,
Nonexisting thing showup,
hiding existing things,
object is hidden in subject
Just like a mirage in desert or fragrance in a flower!
poem by Ramdas Bhandarkar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jonah-Woman
Who are these white-capped jesters...and jackals
Who have placed me in the belly of a
White death-stinking fish?
Not this time, not Jonah-time fish.
Not walking out safe from Jonah's fish. No.
Not this time.
The jesters and tittering hyenas, with their night-lumin
Eyes, who tiptoe soft through the loud-hinged door...
And shut it quietly-quick behind them.
They are breathing to find me.
They safari hunt for me...beating the bush-room.
Mine. I am hiding in the pillow, in the chest of drawers,
In the air.
They can't find me with their needles and needle-quick
Pills.
The rancid, disinfected fish is down the hall, around the
Corner...on the ceilings.
I can sense death rattles...quick as goodbye from
Yesterday. The fish swallows the soft, noisy passage.
The fish is Hill House. The fish is the jackals' den.
The fish, with no fins, rummages the halls, airborne,
Hovering on moon-shadowed winds.
A scream, a gurgle, the fish forgets me for the moment.
The jesters still seek, seethe. They have other work now.
Something is wrong.
Something is amiss in Heaven.
They have placed me in a room with no art.
There is someone at the door...snuffling dog noises.
Who are you that you do not answer me?
The dog has gone. I think it has gone...but I do not think
It was a dog.
They have taken everything. Even the name of my Father...
Given it to the jackals. This, my scent.
They seethe out of their fish-den, carefully stepping over
It's teeth. Man-shark teeth. Death teeth.
They walk with needles balanced on a tray...rainbow pills
In teensy, little cups...watch me to make sure I've swallowed
The rainbow.
Something is my God wrong.
Something should not be happening.
I cannot walk out of this vile fish...like Jonah. I cannot go
Past it's teeth. I am afraid...more of a coward.
Even your God cannot help me now.
I fear the teeth will SNAP! shut when I'm half-way through the
Opening.
Will anyone care if the jackals laugh, lapping my blood...
While I walk away from a white death-fish?
Walking home.
Walking alone.
poem by Elysabeth Faslund
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Legend
The blacksmith's boy went out with a rifle
and a black dog running behind.
Cobwebs snatched at his feet,
rivers hindered him,
thorn branches caught at his eyes to make him blind
and the sky turned into an unlucky opal,
but he didn't mind.
I can break branches, I can swim rivers, I can stare out
any spider I meet,
said he to his dog and his rifle.
The blacksmith's boy went over the paddocks
with his old black hat on his head.
Mountains jumped in his way,
rocks rolled down on him,
and the old crow cried, You'll soon be dead.
And the rain came down like mattocks.
But he only said,
I can climb mountains, I can dodge rocks, I can shoot an old crow any day,
and he went on over the paddocks.
When he came to the end of the day, the sun began falling,
Up came the night ready to swallow him,
like the barrel of a gun,
like an old black hat,
like a black dog hungry to follow him.
Then the pigeon, the magpie and the dove began wailing
and the grass lay down to pillow him.
His rifle broke, his hat blew away and his dog was gone and the sun was falling.
But in front of the night, the rainbow stood on the mountain,
just as his heart foretold.
He ran like a hare,
he climbed like a fox;
he caught it in his hands, the colours and the cold -
like a bar of ice, like the column of a fountain,
like a ring of gold.
The pigeon, the magpie and the dove flew up to stare,
and the grass stood up again on the mountain.
The blacksmith's boy hung the rainbow on his shoulder
instead of his broken gun.
Lizards ran out to see, snakes made way for him,
and the rainbow shone as brightly as the sun.
All the world said, Nobody is braver, nobody is bolder,
nobody else has done
anything equal to it. He went home as easy as could be
with the swinging rainbow on his shoulder.
poem by Judith Wright
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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My Dream of Iris
I dreamt I cast an overarching path
Of coloured scales
Thriving on the solar rays that play upon
The waning of the storm –
I’d thrown a filmy avenue to reconnect
Empyrean with humankind!
Elated, I flitted through refracted hues –
Those from watery spheres that
Fan the iridescent prism.
And more: shimmering sprites in dance atop the spray
Conveyed adieus to gods
Departing for their hallowed visitation…
I woke and pined anon,
Begging Iris: ‘Be so kind and
Take us on your wing to new endeavours –
Show that nothing in the ether tempers you!
And every time you render us a rainbow,
See it fires a lust for zest anew! ’
Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010
rainbow rainbow rainbow rainbow rainbow
rainbow rainbow rainbow rainbow
rainbow rainbow rainbow rainbow rainbow
rainbow rainbow rainbow rainbow
rainbow rainbow rainbow rainbow
poem by Mark R Slaughter
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Play with Rainbow
Play with Rainbow, wear the Rainbow
Ride the Rainbow high and low
Spread the color of Rainbow wherever you go
Paint with Rainbow, create a magnificent show
Share Rainbow with neighbor, family and friend
Give the needy a helping hand, reach out and extend
Dance with Rainbow, sing with Rainbow
Let the Rainbow shine through
Rainbow comes from Sun Shine and rain seven colors true
It paints the sky with seven colors and dazzling hue
It bridges the Earth and the beyond for a short moment
Arched, end to end, never changes, same as past and present
I wonder if there is Rainbow in the other world
Where we go when we pass on
Is there day, night or dawn
What is a Rainbow, how it is born
poem by Syed Karim
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The magical water rainbow
Far, deep in the jungle, do I travell,
the mystery of the water rainbow I unravell,
It looks beautiful; between the sunset orange and the dark red
lies shiny brown lead;
not of odinary, but something different,
when looked at,
sooths the hearts,
of the torn aparts,
its like heaven, going there you will find unlimited peace,
which in the cities you will find lease.
the magical water rainbow.
poem by Savio Vogt
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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In Constant Struggle
there is this hook, line and
sinker
someone is a fish and he
is caught
the urchins and clams
and octopuses watch helplessly
the fish is this philosophy of
being caught and wanting to be free
you are inside this ocean and
you are this fish
and then you wish to become a man
all your life you feel the fish in there
hook, line and sinker
the fish in you and the man within
in constant struggle
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rainbow Silhouette
I saw a rainbow silhouette from the sky
I know the reason and its purpose why
God in His infinite goodness and love
Wanted to give this to me from above
My life has its own ups and downs
Gazing up to the sky, the rainbow silhouette covered me down
It's different colors, are colors of God's skin
Black, brown, yellow, red, white, everybody are His kin
I saw a rainbow silhouette again tonight
I can dream peacefully now and sleep tight.
What about you...? i hope so..
God bless you..
poem by Meggie Gultiano
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Beneath blue ocean still
The water vapor rises
Over a blue ocean tone
Where surface still like silence
Covers all of the unknown.
Beneath there is mystery
Mermaids and fish swim
A portal of fantasy
Is where all stories begin.
Darting dolphins, talking sharks,
Sea-horses dance all around.
Red glow fish zip and twirl by.
U-boat awakes from ocean ground.
Under-water cities bustle
A fish dares to leap ashore
Whirl-pools confuse schools of fish.
Serpents rest on ocean floor.
The Illuminated waters.
The rainbow speckled scales.
Jaws of hungry predators.
Squirmy blue electric eels.
Above rippling surface
Nets catch all of the pretend.
Back to the blue ocean still.
Mystic vapor there ascends.
poem by Josh Alfred
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Meaning Of The Rainbow
The rainbow
Red because the blood I see because of you.
Purple from my heart
Orange your favorite color
Green the color of your eyes
Yellow the color of your hair
Blue the color I feel every night
This is the color of my rainbow
The meaning of the rainbow
You use to point at them
And this is what it reminds me of now
when I see the rainbow
I cut when I see red
I let you bruised my heart so my heart is purple
When I see orange I feel hatred
I think green and I want to puke on you
I see blue and start to cry
I see yellow and think about you
So I restart with red over and over again
poem by Baybay Tucker
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Aha! Rainbow! Mom!
Running wildly about in the house,
I happened to stop by the window,
My eyes filled with that enchanting show,
A multicoloured rainbow!
'Aha! ! Rainbow! ! Mom! ! ', I yelled,
But none could I see beside me,
was it that just admiring the spell-binding sight,
had lifted me there for free!
It was as if the rainbow had pulled me up,
The seven colours though separately seen,
Close up, I could see they were seven,
though white, together, from the earth, they had been.
I danced happily on the clouds,
fluffy as a rabbit's fur,
the rainbow as a shield spread below me,
to curb the fall that it knew I may incur.
It knew, then why did it not tell me?
That the altitude was but a death-call?
Maybe it was not as innocent as it looked,
but wanted me, to earth, fall.
How could I know what it's plan was?
It looked a sparkling, twinkling rainbow, just,
I did not foresee that tempest from far yonder,
though my hair was blowing in a raging gust.
A so-called 'safe' dome I was standing on,
So I had to sustain a collapse,
They took me for their own,
to punish my momentary concentration-lapse.
Falling through the air then,
All left for me was to pray to God,
Some angel on earth to my rescue send,
Some hands warm as cushions held me close,
Alarmed, my fear on my face, froze.
She was the angel who had given me birth,
and shown me what the rainbow was, for all it's worth!
An Angler
Now as an angler melancholy standing
Upon a green bank yielding room for landing,
A wriggling yellow worm thrust on his hook,
Now in the midst he throws, then in a nook:
Here pulls his line, there throws it in again,
Mendeth his cork and bait, but all in vain,
He long stands viewing of the curled stream;
At last a hungry pike, or well-grown bream
Snatch at the worm, and hasting fast away,
He knowing it a fish of stubborn sway,
Pulls up his rod, but soft, as having skill,
Wherewith the hook fast holds the fish's gill;
Then all his line he freely yieldeth him,
Whilst furiously all up and down doth swim
Th' insnared fish, here on the top doth scud,
There underneath the banks, then in the mud,
And with his frantic fits so scares the shoal,
That each one takes his hide, or starting hole:
By this the pike, clean wearied, underneath
A willow lies.
poem by William Browne
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Broremann The Fisherman
Broremann the Angler
On the pier where fishing vessels were tied up my brother
sat fishing all the while seagulls kept swooping and shrieking,
he blissfully ignored them. He had no hook at the end of his
line and when asked why he said, I don´t like to hurt the fish.
But crafty little Broremann was not as innocent as you may
think, he didn´t like fish, all those horrible tiny bones,
his mother had sent him down to the pier to try catch some
fish for lunch. He liked sausages with mashed potatoes and
stewed peas, now he could go home tell his mother fish didn´t
bite today, but made sure to put the hook on the line so his
mother could see he was really trying. An old fisherman gave
him two sardines wrapped in a newspaper, but wouldn´t you
know it the pair of sardines somehow slipped out of the paper
and made their way back to the sea.
poem by Oskar Hansen
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031010 Food Power
i reach the bottom of fish tank
to touch the bottom dweller
stuck to a rock like suction cup
she let me caress her as if she
know me, she's grown a bit
since i bought her at pet shop
this black big head fish i love
she doesn't move that much
i watch her gills close and open
she is always watching me
sometimes i saw her swim
just to get away from other fish
i used to tap the fish tank cover
before feeding them, amazing
every time i tap, they surface
how's that for teaching a fish
food is really powerful thing
just me i can't stop eating
poem by Manonton Dalan
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