Local poet Howie Mason lit up City of Cranbrook council chambers April 10 when he took part in the 2017 National Poetry Month Poetry Challenge and recited his work ‘Wily Trout’ at the outset of the meeting.

Wily Trout

As the years go by, there is no doubt

The more I look like a savage lout

When I crawl through the weeds

On a warm summer day

In pursuit of the wily at lay

The water is clear, cold and fast

As I cut slack to make my first cast

The fly is presented with artistic form

I know at once that it was not the norm

When out of the shadows there was a streak of light

I knew in a heartbeat I was in for a fight

As a four pound trout too to the air

I eased off the pressure just to be fair

He tail walked and rattled and gave it his all

It was such beauty that makes grown men bawl

To see that great fish so heavenly sent

To lay in the net all tired and spent

In his last final moments he shook his great head

In my mind I had already visualized him dead

With a final thrash the slippery bugger

Made an arc for the water as I gave him a hugger

Splash he was gone in the twink of an eye

I was so heart broke I thought I would die

So here’s to the great fish of a species so grand

That God created, let’s give him a hand.

Howie Mason

Lead image: Howie Mason recites his poem to a delighted city council April 10. Ian Cobb/e-KNOW photo

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