Northern Pike

　　 by James Wright

　　 All right. Try this，

　　 Then. Every body

　　 I know and care for，

　　 And every body

　　 Else is going

　　 To die in a loneliness

　　 I can't imagine and a pain

　　 I don't know. We had

　　 To go on living. We

　　 Untangled the net， we slit

　　 The body of this fish

　　 Open from the hinge of the tail

　　 To a place beneath the chin

　　 I wish I could sing of.

　　 I would just as soon we let

　　 The living go on living.

　　 An old poet whom we believe in

　　 Said the same thing， and so

　　 We paused among the dark cattails and prayed

　　 For the muskrats，

　　 For the ripples below their tails，

　　 For the little movements that we knew the crawdads were making under water，

　　 For the right-hand wrist of my cousin who is a policeman.

　　 We prayed for the game warden's blindness.

　　 We prayed for the road home.

　　 We ate the fish.

　　 There must be something very beautiful in my body，

　　 I am so happy