John Kaprielian's work in Minute Magazine

50+4

The first birthday I can recall
was fifty years ago today
It’s my first memory
I was four
I remember the game
“Kerplunk”
and a cake of rainbow
Jello that jiggled and swayed

But I was finally four
and that meant
I was a man
because I received
a real fishing rod
hand wound, with a
top quality DAM Quick reel

My father didn’t buy
kiddie tackle
crappy pushbutton Zebcos
and stubby molded
plastic rods

No, I was old enough
for a real reel
and a fine rod
and I knew I had
to take care of it
to be responsible
because now
I was a man

That summer I caught
a 13-inch pickerel
on a yellow worm
We nailed the head to a tree
to dry and preserve it
It stank and writhed with maggots
and 40 years later
my dog ate it

I still have my pole though
eventually the tip broke
when I was much older
and less responsible
and the reel
wore out from
overuse

But the rod has lasted
though my father is gone.
I am still a man
and so is my son.


Paeonia

I walk out the door
and the peonies
remind
me that you’re
not here

You loved how they
would burst forth
slow motion fireworks
right around
your birthday

an empty day now
without celebrations
only memories of
celebrations past

yet I find myself
struggling to remember
those past birthdays
surely full of
fishing and laughter
and probably lobsters
and gin and love

The peonies are
huge and pink
their petals brimming
with the morning rain
like eyes
full of tears.



These poems appeared in Minute Magazine. Please visit the website for the audio portions.