Tender Blessings

Glass eye, opaque and quizzical, staring up from the creel. A question escapes as a squeak, when picked up by the belly and held firmly in one hand, as the other hand inserts the knife at the anus and slides it through the flesh to between the gills. No sound, no change of expression now, as fingers reach between the wound and excise the stomach and intestines; clean the blood by running the thumbnail along the spine, leaving the guts on a rock at the shore for some bird or varmint to savor. All the while holding the fish and dipping it again in the stream, for its final baptism before the sizzle; as skin crisps, eye whitens, and meat becomes opaque in the cast iron skillet, at the camp site, where blessings are given with the upward waft of trout, on an early morning sacrifice, in the name of God.