The Pond
You caught trout in the pond with your mother,
your face still smarting from the slap she dealt you
real casual like you deserved it
as you picked up the phone to call him back.
You pick up your pole, dangle the hook
in dank water - still silent backwater
that goes nowhere and smells of it too
and you know no matter what you catch,
you won’t be able to eat it for dinner
or even the breakfast after that.
KATE BUCKLEY was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, educated at Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky, and works in Advertising. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in a variety of journals including: The Heartland Review, New Southerner, Slipstream, and Spillway, and in the book, Tide Pools, an Anthology of Orange County Poetry. Buckley was also a finalist for the 2007 Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize. Kate Buckley lives in Laguna Beach, California with her husband and three unruly dogs.
