http://www.wordnik.com/lists/b-a-href-http-wordie-org-words-poetrie-rel-nofollow-poetrie-a-fishing-on-the-susquehanna-in-july-b.xml by Billy Collins <br /> <br />I have never been <a href="/words/fishing">fishing</a> on the Susquehanna <br />or on any river for that matter <br />to be perfectly <a href="/words/honest">honest</a>. <br /> <br />Not in July or any month <br />have I had the <a href="/words/pleasure">pleasure</a>--if it is a pleasure-- <br />of fishing on the Susquehanna. <br /> <br />I am more likely to be found <br />in a <a href="/words/quiet">quiet</a> room like this one-- <br />a <a href="/words/painting">painting</a> of a <a href="/words/woman">woman</a> on the wall, <br /> <br />a bowl of <a href="/words/tangerines">tangerines</a> on the table-- <br />trying to manufacture the <a href="/words/sensation">sensation</a> <br />of fishing on the Susquehanna. <br /> <br />There is little <a href="/words/doubt">doubt</a> <br />that others have been fishing <br />on the Susquehanna, <br /> <br />rowing <a href="/words/upstream">upstream</a> in a <a href="/words/wooden">wooden</a> boat, <br />sliding the <a href="/words/oars">oars</a> under the water <br />then raising them to <a href="/words/drip">drip</a> in the light. <br /> <br />But the nearest I have ever come to <br />fishing on the Susquehanna <br />was one afternoon in a <a href="/words/museum">museum</a> in Philadelphia <br /> <br />when I balanced a little <a href="/words/egg">egg</a> of time <br />in front of a painting <br />in which that river <a href="/words/curled">curled</a> around a bend <br /> <br />under a blue <a href="/words/cloud-ruffled">cloud-ruffled</a> sky, <br />dense trees along the banks, <br />and a fellow with a red <a href="/words/bandanna">bandanna</a> <br /> <br />sitting in a small, green <br /><a href="/words/flat-bottom">flat-bottom</a> boat <br />holding the thin <a href="/words/whip">whip</a> of a pole. <br /> <br />That is something I am <a href="/words/unlikely">unlikely</a> <br />ever to do, I remember <br />saying to myself and the person next to me. <br /> <br />Then I <a href="/words/blink">blink</a>ed and moved on <br />to other American scenes <br />of <a href="/words/haystacks">haystacks</a>, water <a href="/words/whitening">whitening</a> over rocks, <br /> <br />even one of a brown <a href="/words/hare">hare</a> <br />who seemed so <a href="/words/wired">wired</a> with alertness <br />I imagined him <a href="/words/springing">springing</a> right out of the frame. http://www.wordnik.com http://www.wordnik.com/words/fishing Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:05:31 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/fishing http://www.wordnik.com/words/honest Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:05:27 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/honest http://www.wordnik.com/words/pleasure Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:05:23 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/pleasure http://www.wordnik.com/words/quiet Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:05:12 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/quiet http://www.wordnik.com/words/painting Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:05:05 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/painting http://www.wordnik.com/words/woman Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:05:01 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/woman http://www.wordnik.com/words/tangerines Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:53 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/tangerines http://www.wordnik.com/words/sensation Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:48 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/sensation http://www.wordnik.com/words/doubt Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:46 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/doubt http://www.wordnik.com/words/upstream Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:36 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/upstream http://www.wordnik.com/words/wooden Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:25 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/wooden http://www.wordnik.com/words/oars Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:23 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/oars http://www.wordnik.com/words/drip Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:22 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/drip http://www.wordnik.com/words/museum Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:13 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/museum http://www.wordnik.com/words/egg Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:07 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/egg http://www.wordnik.com/words/curled Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:05 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/curled http://www.wordnik.com/words/cloud-ruffled Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:04:00 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/cloud-ruffled http://www.wordnik.com/words/bandanna Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:48 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/bandanna http://www.wordnik.com/words/flat-bottom Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:39 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/flat-bottom http://www.wordnik.com/words/whip Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:30 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/whip http://www.wordnik.com/words/unlikely Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:28 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/unlikely http://www.wordnik.com/words/blink Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:20 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/blink http://www.wordnik.com/words/haystacks Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:18 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/haystacks http://www.wordnik.com/words/whitening Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:15 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/whitening http://www.wordnik.com/words/hare Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:13 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/hare http://www.wordnik.com/words/wired Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:12 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/wired http://www.wordnik.com/words/springing Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:03:10 +0000 http://www.wordnik.com/words/springing