Gone Fishing

It was by far
The best thing
That I could do
For myself
To go fishing
I was desperate
To do some
Fishing
After such
A long and miserable
Winter
But it was all that
I could do
To pull
My bloated carcass
Out of bed
At 4am in the morning
In order
To catch
The 8:00 am boat
This time there was to
To be no afternoon boat
So if I missed the 8 o’clock
I would be piss out of luck

I was keyed up
Like a child
Waiting for Santa
But I could not
Find the motivation
To get going
I wanted to roll over
And go back to sleep
For maybe two more hours
Or maybe even three
So I just lay there
Stuck in my bed
In a kind of stupor
Neither quite asleep
Nor quite awake
Unable to stir
Myself enough
Or jump start myself
To get out of bed
And get my butt in gear
I checked the clock
4:30 am
Half an hour
Had already been eaten up
By my damned procrastination
And then I had a thought
I am a fan of Sixer’s basketball
I asked myself
What would Sixer’s
Star shooting guard
Andre Iguadola do
In this situation
If he were me?
Would he just lay here
Like a lump of clay
Or would he dribble down the court
To go in for
An easy lay-up shot?

I kept repeating his name
Iguadola, Iguadola, Iguadola
As if I were
A fan in the stands
Rooting him on
Finally I managed
To get to my feet
My eyes still half shut
I repeated my mantra
Iguadola, Iguadola, Iguadola
I stumbled to the bathroom
And splashed some cold water
On my face
Iguadola, Iguadola, Iguadola
I managed to pull on some clothes
And socks and old sneakers
I grabbed my fishing gear
And big white bucket
For the many fish
I was confident
That I would catch
Iguadola, Iguadola, Iguadola
I made it to the car
Put the car into gear
And pulled a hard U turn
To start my journey
To the shore
To my shore
To the New Jersey shore
Where the fish
Were waiting
And new friends
Were waiting to be met
The road was deserted
Except for a few hardy souls
I supposed the others
Were up early
To start their morning shifts
Too bad for them
I was on my way
To the Jersey shore
To catch some fish
And going to work
Was the last thing
On my mind
The next time
I run into Andre Iguadola
Please remind me to thank him

jhmarkowitz
Philadelphia, Pa. 2011