John Mole
The Catch
(for Don Jones)
Being of the old world, my uncle
in twill and waders, mid-stream,
has had a good breakfast. Now
he must angle for his catch
to bring back what he came for.
This is a long weekend
and bachelor-time at the guest house.
Always book ahead, my boy,
for the cherry on the grapefruit.
Never take no for an answer.
He has set me on the river bank
beside his sandwiches, cut thin
by the establishment just how
he likes them, tightly packed
in greaseproof paper: Guard them
with your life. We’ll eat no later
than the dot of one. Perhaps next time
I’ll have a rod for you. All eyes
on me now. Learn a thing or two.
You’re always reading ....
Glad now that he took me,
puzzled then, I snapped him
with my smuggled Brownie
when his back was turned
and brought back what I’d come for.
Dropping me off at home, he said
I won’t come in but give these
to your mother. Packed as neatly
as the sandwiches, his catch,
all five of them, and laid in bracken.
No time like the present, as he
often told me. Now he lives in it again
mid-stream, a lonely figure
with the sun behind him dazzling
the water and the awkward child
who took this photograph
my mother turns up in an album
after forty years. He was a good man,
Such a shame he never married.
Things were different then.
Page(s) 28-29
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