fishhook

i drowse in a pail
           of ice, one eye
           ​open

           the sun lifts her head
           over the harbor

           shore to shore
           the sea staggers
           with depthless
           irritation

my other eye dreams:
           cold currents
           tail flick
           ​bubble thrill
           then that fisher’s
           hook, that line
           illimitable
           reeling steadily
           the soul up, up

           strata of
           brightening seawater

           that surface seam
           we always called
           heaven

 September 2025

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Brittany N. Jaekel writes from the Twin Cities. Her work has previously appeared in RHINO, Bird's Thumb, Burningword Literary Journal, and other places.

Art:  Ellen June Wright, Diptych #1306,  #1509, watercolor on paper