Best Salmon Poems
Declining the urge to go with the flow I swim upstream,
there to spawn and hatch countless dreams which freely
flow and then disperse in the vast ocean of my life.
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Contest: Any Birthday Poem
Sponsor: Laura Loo
Written on my birthday:
16th February, 2016
Contest: River of Dreams
Sponsor: Poet Destroyer A.
Placed 3rd
Chosen POTD 18th Feb 2016
The amber skein of autumn leaves,
embanks the tumbling torrent
of the splendid forest stream.
A salmon homes to lay its roe.
Follow her, as she curvets
the swollen falls and rasping stones.
Like a Grizzly bear looking intently
from the rivers rocky crest
I hunger for the first bite
of succulent Alaska salmon
Fresh caught in the mornings first glow
of peachy dew light
Open pink flesh glistening with rich
aroma of the briny sea
Upon my grill graced in lemon garlic
drizzle with fresh dill
Served on warm plates nestled
on wild rice like a fleece blanket
A fine wine and friends gathered
about the patio table
Glasses raised in thanks as lips
moisten in Grizzly anticipation
Salmon steak or fillet
Choose fillet or salmon
steak
Either way I can get it
Is alright with me
I enjoy a salmon steak
Cooking on the barbecue
Or the fillet is tasty to
Either way I enjoy it
Salmon from a can
Is handy to have
For a salad bowl
Or making salmon
patties
Salmon pink horizon beguiles as I towel dry
Upon a muted canvas morphs hues at sunset.
The lake decants of its waders and pontoons.
Mirrored waters tranquil—a soothing elixir.
Tidy up and make camp for the night.
The campsite invited blissful slumber.
Natural waters reflected frond umbrellas.
An artificial lake at once sequestered.
Fuchsia shades spackled across dusky skies.
All had surfaced—I dove into a lost horizon.
born to return home
no escaping destiny
a brutal journey ahead
all to procreate
survival at any cost
in death a species renewed...
salmon leaping high
up the waterfalls to spawn
sadly then you die
fish
Salmon HAIKU ©
Salmon swim up stream
Battling against being killed
Womanlike she fights!
Didee
inland
crimson instinct
natal streams beckon home
from the great turning wheel they come
bears wait
The journey upstream,
A chance to deliver life;
Swimming to the death.
Frothing, frigid fjords
Fling forth fine stippled
Salmon, streaking upstream.
Roe-rich fish, flashing
Fat and fulgent:
Spurred to spawn, to spurt
Then sputter -- spasmodic.
Spectral. Unspared.
Once upon a time,
there lived a curious boy. He had a dream
of becoming the happiest man
in the world.
"When will I be the happiest man
in the world?" he asked
an old fisherman.
The reply was in form of a parable.
"Take a look at a salmon. It does not let
the river’s currents to control its journey.
It moves upstream, against
the currents, unlike other fish
that swim with the current.”
“My child,
life is like an eternal river current;
you and I are like fishes,
who might be salmons without
knowing it.
Good news!
You can decide to move upstream
to success if you fight against
the currents of doubts or what
people will say or think about you.”
The boy realized that to achieve happiness,
he had to seek it.
Lessons to learn from you, oh Salmon
great fish!, strong navigator;
How highly focused you are, attaining
your goals oh great curator.
Moving and strong currents do not deter
your maternal instinct;
Aware that your destiny ends where you
were spawned in your precinct.
So much to learn from the journey of your
life, oh great conservator!.
Bear.....
stone clad shores
welt beneath your warmth
fir lined trees
stand silent in your presence
misted waters raise to greet a vibrant sky in jubilation
as salmon fight ferocious rapids
you
intent
listen and watch
bated breath
silent
your cumbersome claw hovers as a wieghtless mosquito
dancing hithertoo
for that oh so perfect
catch
titanium
spray
avoids your touch
end the salmon's day
Salmon Run
A flurry of reds emerges distorted from the river
As the sockeye salmon return from the ocean,
Following the scent of their home stream water
And swimming upstream to the place of their birth;
In this, their final act is to propagate the species.
During this migration, the sockeyes consume no food
But depend on their stored body fat reserves.
The salmon flesh is red due to the krill they eat,
and this pigment moves to the skin where they absorb their scales
as the flesh turns white, which is an indication of their health.
They endure the struggle over falls, up rapids,
And past man-made structures and predators
To reach the spawning grounds of their creation.
The name originates from the Pacific Indigenous peoples’
Salish languages,
Who called them “suk-kegh,” meaning “red fish,” after their colour.
For centuries, the coastal tribes’ ancestral heritage
fished the salmon for sustenance
And traditions and believed that all living things were once people.
To them, the sockeye salmon symbolizes determination,
renewal, and prosperity.
Frantically, grotesque-looking fish splash furiously.
The females in a frenzy sweep their tails to make beds,
While males await excitedly, defending their mates,
Ready to move in between them and the nest
To fertilize the eggs that are about to be laid.
They didn’t always look this way, with the upper portion
of the snout
Elongated, protruding over the bottom as if hook-jawed
With long fanged teeth and greenish-hued heads,
And red-pigmented bodies with thick leathery skin,
With a hump on their backs that makes them appear freakish.
The juveniles remain in the freshwater until mature.
Then, they swim out into the ocean for two to three years
before returning to repeat the cycle.
Steely silver-blue tinted colour with white bellies
And heads of natural proportions to the rest of their sleek,
transparent-scaled, torpedo-shaped bodies;
Magnificently gorgeous for a fish.