Angling in the Abstract
by William Ogden Haynes William Ogden Haynes

William Ogden Haynes is a poet and author of short fiction from Alabama who was born in Michigan and grew up a military brat. He has published in literary journals such as California Quarterly, Quantum Poetry Magazine, Front Porch Review, Full of Crow, Indigo Rising, Forge, The Houston Literary Review, Bolts of Silk, Blue Lake Review, and PIF Magazine. He believes that the mark of good writing is that, at the end, people feel glad they read it. In a prior life he taught speech-language pathology at Auburn University and authored six major professional textbooks.

They reside unseen in the tackle box
As we cast, troll, jig and tie our knots.
We rarely speak of patience,
Buried beneath the sinkers, leaders,
Crankbaits and flies.
But certainly we wait hours for a nibble,
Sitting quietly on the pier.
We do not mention persistence,
Resting under the spools of monofilament line,
Bobbers and tins of fishhooks.
Yet, we motor back to the same cove
Where we lost a fight with a largemouth bass
The week before.
And while we may not talk of it,
Implied in our landing nets,
Creels, stringers, scalers and pliers,
Is the relentless, recurring
Opportunity for hope.

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