(After Mark Strand’s Elegy for My Father 2 – Answers)
What did you expect to see there?
I expected nothing. The realm of a fish is so silent.
What did you expect to see there?
A brook trout with her young, its brown skin
gleaming beneath pale water.
What did you do there?
I only watched it swim.
What did you do there?
I dipped my hand in the water and stroked its smooth belly.
Why did you do it?
I don’t know.
Why did you do it?
Because I wanted to touch it. You hardly ever get to touch a fish.
It darts from you at the movement of a shadow.
What was it like?
It was like nothing I can describe in this world.
What was it like?
It seemed like my life had frozen
with the tips of my fingers pausing the minutes.
What happened next?
I can’t remember.
What happened next?
The fish spun past me as I stroked it.
What did you feel?
I didn’t feel anything.
What did you feel?
I felt my own death swimming away.
