Cleaning Fish

January    cold    damp    little snow.

Cleaning two fish in the garage-

a Rainbow    a Brown    both gifts.

 

Dad taught me:

cut down behind the gill

use the bend of the blade    follow the spine    flip    repeat.

 

Hold the tail    slip the knife between skin and meat    push

let the knife do the work

don’t waste meat.

 

Half done with the brown    his hands stiffen    red and cold.

He stops    puts the knife down    stretches them   

wipes them of slime    blames the arthritis    continues.   

 

His hands never get cold.

His age never shows.

Some day even he will die.    I know that now.

Author's Note

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.