Seeing Inside

There was a fish
And a man

It was exciting for a while
to watch them
engaged in
what looked like an adventure
A thrill of the spinning,
one excited man
and the Brisbane river
with skyscrapers
and stadium lights
in the background
It was exciting for a while
to follow
the invisible line
through the black of the night
and the black river,
uncertain yet
who is ahead
was the fish leading the man
or the man leading the fish
one couldnt tell
for a while
nothing was certain
only that it was going to be
a big one
a city grown beast
and then he came in
losing the battle
but not giving up
the thrashing and resisting thing
powerful and robbed off its power
and so the man won him
from the River
and he swung it out
and with a great big
city thud
this fish hit the real hard city pavement
and I swayed long
in the shock wave
up and down
and I hope
he died instantly

but all these things-
excitement, loss, desperation, loathing, shame, shock
were they there at all?
was I seeing clearly?

because really-what there was-
there was a fish
and a man
and may be
we can leave it at that.