Sun Ra, Rain Dogs, Bull Trout & Pheasant Tails

Sun Ra and Rain Dogs tenderly blister the morning.
Instruments and melodies I don’t understand,
sublime abstract cacophony of the unexpected.

Hot coffee,
        dark, with a bit of sugar.
Ice, slush, April air after a December winter storm,
        wind keeping the leaves off the ground.

Bull trout in Idaho, the panhandle,
that slender slice of land between Montana and Washington,
         campgrounds down winding gravel roads - 
Dreams of summer.

Wrapping pheasant tails around #14 hooks,
Peacock hurl, red thread, gold bead head and lead wire.
Unknown melding with known.
        These flies work.
        They catch fish.
        No question.
        Keep it simple.
They’re all I know.
​
Big water out west, flies in the vice.

My mind wanders to mountains, a cathedral of pines, cold beer.

The dog barking down the alley, the train tracking its way downstream,
         bring me back.
I’ll have to try these flies on some local water, first.

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