I’ve been playing with ideas for picture book characters this week. Often they present themselves to me when I’m out on a long bike ride. This one came to me on a backpack trip in the central Sierra Nevada mountains a couple of summers ago (he’s been waiting a long time)!
He lives in an alpine pond – somewhere out there! Meet “Old Catfish”!
For more #PoetryFriday delight, head over to Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect who is hosting the roundup this week!
OLD CATFISH by Patricia J. Franz
Arc of a late-summer sun
glitters on granite walls;
louvered light
dissolves below
the undisturbed surface.
Old Catfish lies
tucked between buried boulders,
where a cedar’s kindness
cools
the far end
of the pond.
His mottled body
hovers in soft sand –
still.
Old white whiskers
flick,
detect a chill
in the water.
Midges flit;
mayflies mingle in the shadows;
crickets and katydids
tune the instruments
carried on their backs.
Like a magnet,
drawn to a secret jazz joint,
they can’t resist
the chance to jam.
Old Catfish eases into view —
the player’s cue:
it’s time…
Old Catfish sets a beat…
Bloop
Bloop bloop
Music returns him
to days of youth,
when a brash, young fish
dreamed
of life beyond
this simple pond.
Indulging his hidden heart,
Old Catfish lingers
a minute…
listens…
… an echo
of a solo song
floats
above the pond.
He’s Old Catfish,
wiser tonight,
finding beauty
in rhythms unwrapped
with every soft sunset
Bloop
Bloop bloop
Patricia Franz is a kidlit writer and published poet. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 
Beautiful, Patricia! I love the ending Bloops and the scene your words paint!
Thanks! Not sure if you remember him from our LLL time…he’s been with me awhile 🙂
I love your use of alliteration, Patricia! Your rhythm and word choice contributed to my reading the poem slowly, like an old catfish. “Bloop…bloop bloop”
I do love this ol’ guy! Thank you, Rose! See you soon!
This could be a picture book!
WIP — wink, wink. 🙂
Thank you, Mary Lee!
Patricia, I love this! I especially love the cedar’s kindness.
Thank you, Marcie! He and I both appreciated cool shade that day!
I think this would be something great to read out loud and get the kids to draw this Main character!
I love the descriptive words for them to imagine in their heads what he might look like!
Some day, Ter!
Patricia this is beautifull! He’s come so far from when we first met him back in LLL! I love it!
He’s still a WIP; still with me 🙂
I took the bait and now I’m hooked. I look forward to when this fella has his own PB. Bloop. 🙂
-lol Thank you, Bridget!
This is so beautiful with gorgeous word choice and imagery throughout. I especially love
“a cedar’s kindness
cools
the far end
of the pond.”
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Molly. Both catfish and backpacker appreciated the cedar that day. 🙂
This is wonderful, my amazing friend!!! I wish I wrote lyrical works like you!!!!
YOU DO! I’m just grateful I get to peek at yours! Thank you, CK!
So evocative and lyrical. I enjoyed being carried along line to line and being pleasantly surprised along the way. Those bloops are wonderful too! 🙂
Thank you! Who can’t resist a bloop bloop 🙂
I am in awe at this very moment after reading your precious words! I was immediately transported to a moment when I was a young boy! I was fishing in a small pond on my uncle’s farm! I caught a number of catfish that morning, but I was told that they were not the edible ones to bring home! The trout kind were better! They did look rather ugly!
This morning your poem showed me how beautiful they really are 😍
aww…thanks, Dad! 🙂
I love that longer second stanza that begins “Old Catfish lies…”–the kindness of the cedar, the still and the chill. I wonder, do you see this as a picture book text? I love that you work on developing characters before story–I’m not at all a picture book person, but I’d be “plot first character second” every time! (Love that your dad comments here; mine just emails me!)
Thank you, Heidi. I like to explore characters, especially if they are going to have a role in a PB. Old Catfish is one that has earned his way into a WIP, but the story is not about him. I like to spend time with characters, “interviewing” them, and over time, their background/history begins to be revealed. I don’t think the text in this poem would be quite PB material (?) for the 3-7year old reader. But I think it’s why I love writing poetry… so much of it is “picture books for adults.” And yes — my dad has recently found my online work…good thing the comments are moderated!
This is beautiful, Patricia! I could definitely see it as a picture book. Lovely.
Thank you, Karen! Some day!