~RUSS KESLER~

SELF PORTRAIT

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               —Jim Ballew, 1944-1987
 

You hold a largemouth bass close
to the camera, the skin on its back
dark as deep water,
your face still full and tanned.

I imagine you composing the shot,
fussing with stop and speed, the timer,
lifting the fish from its bed
of damp towels so the red gills flare.

What the picture doesn't show
is how you waded out knee-deep
and released it, watching until
it moved away from blinding light and air,
the great mouth working as if in speech.
 
 

© by Russ Kesler