Meat Fishin'

It was the last and largest of the seven Still asquirm under the gill crushing thumb The fresh honed blade slid in at the head and sliced along the back fin to the tail He came back to the head slid the point across to the start of the belly then ran his finger down the back cut for a lifting start to the fillet The knife followed riding the ribs And moments later that side of the perch was lying skin down but still attached on the cutting board He slid the point under the eye and twist spooned out the cheek Pulling it whole from the eye with his fingers The other side took less time and in less than a minute He had two fillets and two more cheeks to add to the rest The skin and bone carcasses would bait the trotline tonight. Seven small perch would need a thick potato sauce To fill the plates at supper His eyes lit up as he saw a patch of lilies on the edge of the path The bulbs would serve as soup with just a touch of bacon ,butter ,and onion He shut off the truck in the driveway Getting out to the smell of fresh baking And the sound of laughter Sport fishin' just aint the same game