Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


PORPOISE by JAMES HARRISON

Poet Analysis

First Line: EVERY YEAR, WHEN WE'RE FLY-FISHING FOR TARPON
Last Line: THEY ALTER THE UNIVERSE.
Subject(s): DOLPHINS; PORPOISES;

Every year, when we're fly-fishing for tarpon
off Key West, Guy insists that porpoises
are good luck. But it's not so banal
as catching more fish or having a fashion
model fall out of the sky lightly on your head,
or at your feet depending on certain
preferences. It's what porpoises do to the ocean.
You see a school making love off Boca Grande,
the baby with his question mark staring
at us a few feet from the boat.
Porpoises dance for as long as they live.
You can do nothing for them.
They alter the universe.



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