The Wreck in the Grasse

by Peter Eckhardt
 
 
There is a big, dead fish in the river, and I look at it. 
I see,
laying there in the mud, 
a big, red, lumpy corpse.
 
Of course, the fish can't see me.
 Its eyes are covered in dirt.
Also,
 the fish is still dead.
 
The fish is probably the biggest fish 
I have ever seen in nature.
I've definitely seen bigger ones in aquariums.
I don't have good enough woodcraft to know what kind, though.
 
The sunlight makes it glint, 
like treasure in the water.
It is salmon (though probably not a salmon), 
with strong, powerful fins.
 
Closer inspection reveals the sloughing off of scales.
Smaller fish nibble 
at the hulk. Its mouth yawns 
open and water strains through.
 
The fish seems a little big for the river.
I walk 
away from the banks
and through the flowers and grasses.