A poem by Elmer Sprick

"A Fisherman’s Almanac"

A robin holds reveille

outside my bedroom window.

I dress quietly

so as not to wake my bride

of sixty years.

It is not yet daylight

and she needs her rest.

I turn on the computer in the den.

Weatherbug gives me a favorable report.

The fish are calling.

I click on the family blog:

It is Janie’s birthday today.

I click on Garrison Keillor’s "Writer’s Almanac."

The bottom line reads,

"Be well, do good work, keep in touch."

To be well, I eat a bowl of oatmeal

and walk to the lake.

What will the lake give me

for a hook and a worm?

A sucker? Once pickled,

it will make a Norseman’s day.

A catfish? Second only to lutefisk for my fishing partner, a happy Dane.

A carp? If smoked, it will go well

with crackers and beer.

A walleye? A thinking man’s fish.

It will go to a widow named Dorothy,

whose late husband once provided her with the best of fish.

Bluegills? Sister Anna will enjoy them

for a break from Meals on Wheels.

So we do the best we can

but it don’t amount to much.

We try to keep in touch with the fish.

Old fishermen will understand.

— Elmer Sprick

Elmer Sprick is a retired forester who lives in Lake City. The Post-Bulletin welcomes your poetry and publishes a poem by an area writer every Monday. Send it to Jay Furst , P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55903.