River Fishing by Saul Bennett

​Paradise is a sunny day
And a gently flowing river.
Watching the sunlight reflected 
On the water.
When I was a child, my Dad would
Take me fishing
On the River Trent and the River Ouse,
You would never know what fish would come out.
One day we caught an eel and we
Couldn’t hold it for long enough to get the
Hook out of its greedy mouth.
My Dad eventually did it and the eel looked at me 
With beady, reproachful eyes,
Before we placed it back in the water.
It wanted to make me feel guilty.
And then there was the time I was reeling in
A small roach and a pike swallowed it and we
Landed the green-speckled predator instead.
It bit my Father’s finger, and he swore.
We told my Dad’s friend and he laughed.
His eyes like the water sparkled in the sun.
River fishing is fantastic fun,
But those days are long gone.


​Saul Bennett is a 43-year old poet from a small town in the North Of England. He is an observer in a working class dimension. He has had poems published in Moss Puppy, Roi Faineant, Vocivia amongst other publications in the U.K. and USA. He can be found on Twitter @SBennettpoet.