Mark Thalman

What: Oregon Literary Arts - First Wednesday Readings
When: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Time: 7 to 9 PM
Where: Blackbird Wineshop, 4323 NE Freemont, Portland, Oregon
Readers: John Blackard, Pedro Ponce, Penelope Schott, Mark Thalman

Mark Thalman's book Catching the Limit is published by Bedbug Press - Fairweather Books (2009) and is part of their Northwest Poetry Series. Thalman's poetry has appeared in Carolina Quarterly, CutBank, Many Mountains Moving, Natural Bridge, Pedestal Magazine, and Pennsylvania Review, among others.  He received his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Oregon, and he teaches English in the public schools.  Thalman lives in Forest Grove, Oregon.

                                CATCHING THE LIMIT


                                      I troll along the south shore,
                                      where other fisherman say
                                      the angling is no good: too shallow,
                                      too many weeds.  With their fish finders,
                                      they cluster off Princess Creek,
                                      but I don't see them catching anything.

                                      The lake lies flat mirroring sky.
                                      An osprey rides the currents,
                                      until he spies a trout,
                                      folds his wings and drops
                                      like a swift mountain stream
                                      falling over the edge of a cliff,
                                      plunging talons first
                                      into his own reflection . . .

                                      Emerging in a fury of spray,
                                      wings widespread, using them as oars,
                                      the bird strokes against the surface,
                                      flapping steadily to reach the air again,
                                      nosing his wriggling prey into the wind.

                                      I point the bow at the spot
                                      where the osprey caught the rainbow.
                                      More times than not, that is the place
                                      my pole starts to bend.