a friday notes-app poem

not for anglers, so much (25 april, 2025)

catch and release

it feels a little cruel, the lure
the hook and the pull,
just to hold them up and say
how beautiful; (it feels a little
like a tight grip at the hook 
of her arm, a squeeze and pull
at the opposite shoulder,
just to hold her to the lights
and say smile, beautiful);
if its a meditation 
like they say, if it's a show 
of respect, isn’t it also
a show of power? look i lured
and pulled and plucked you
out of the water gasping
(just to hold you up and say
how beautiful; just because 
i could) but see i put you back
instead of killing you
outright. 

//mischa

---

listen, i don’t want any trouble. you do you. it’s just not for me. (probably this is like my former hang-up about bonsai trees and i will learn some other element of fly-fishing that will allow me to… get it. for now i have a poem about how i don’t, yet). 🤷‍♀️

friday notes-app poems are published here in celebration of the writing practice we sneak into spare little moments, when words tumble forth and we scurry to catch them. cheers to your scribbles on the back of an old birthday card, a faded receipt, and yes, in the notes app on your phone. carry on, scribe of precious unedited instants. 💚

i’ve slid these notes into their own little section on my substack site. you can find them all and everything else right here. xo