"Marlin" 
by L. Ward Abel

Marlin

I.
Down a bedding of creases
the creeks find their way.
The great curved horizon
and its sea
pull us and all the water
            there ever was
away and away outwith
without tackle or
netting, just gravity
and grace.

II.
Santiago
in Hemingway’s
story also knew
             affliction
like all indigent fishers do.
His were dreams of lions
in an elusive heaven.
The sign. The Christ.
The risen marlin.

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L. Ward Abel’s work has appeared in hundreds of journals (Rattle, Versal, The Reader, Worcester Review, Main Street Rag, others), and he is the author of four full collections and ten chapbooks of poetry, including his latest collection, Green Shoulders: New and Selected Poems 2003–2023 (Silver Bow, 2023). Abel resides in rural Georgia.