A dozen years have come and gone
since we last traversed this lake together
during the decade intervening
dementia has come,
uninvited, to cast
a darkening shadow
on the realm of memory
elusive as minnows
memories dart and dive
in murky shallows
just out of your grasp
where there once were
undeniable threads
connecting past and present,
intention and action
there are now knotted tangles
of monofilament line
lying useless
In the bottom of the boat.
yet, the water never seems to forget
recalling the exact rhythm
and location to lap the shoreline
remembering precisely
the best way to cradle
the hull of our boat
carefully retracing that same
perfection of ripples
to ring the place
where my line disappears
beneath the surface.
I’ve come to angle today
for that story
you used to tell me
about that time
when I was 12
I watch you hook it,
a big one
I can see the weight of it
playing on your mind
effort makes no difference though
you can't reel it in
the line goes slack
and we are both silent for a while
knowing it got away
yet, the water never forgets,
never plays favorites,
or passes judgement on our frailty
maybe that's why we came back
unable to recall the punchline
we can still laugh at the joke
hoping here and now
to catch our limit
of shared moments
and meaning
deeper somehow
than memory
—Mark J. Trelstad
Mark and his dad, Jerry, on their last fishing trip together 🩵
Holly Margl is the award-winning author of Witnessing Grief; Inviting Trauma and Loss to Our Coaching Conversations, An Enneagram Perspective, coach, coach mentor, and trainer specializing in grief, trauma, and the Enneagram.