night fishing

pulling lake herring from Lake Huron, and nature's distractions

lights under the water
like watching television in a dark room
lights under the water at night,
a world seldom seen

but here we are on the calm water,
the occasional gust, a coming storm
peering through rippling glass,
into an alien world

one pass, we see the cisco
but no flies

second pass, we don't see cisco
but we see flies

some mysterious cue alights,
and within moments, there are mayflies
flailing for the sky, reverse insectivore precipitation
their bodies electrified as they purge their casings

a few flutters of net-lace wing
and off into the night sky
"to live but a day"
fragile and renewing