Poetry By Emma McCoy

Tristan Loper CC



Cast and filter
for Alaska John

we are fishing, him and i,
and speaking first-born tongues.
                what i see is fractured.
                the glint of water on rock,
the splayed legs of a mosquito,
the silver flashing underbelly 
                of river-rapid salmon and their
                netting scars. it is past noon
and the fish-blood is drying 
on the bank in augury patterns.
                some priest of another language 
                might read them, but i am limited
to silver salmon-scars and the way
he casts the gossamer line.
                he tells me, “this is how i hook a fish.”
                i tell him, “this is how i write a poem.”
we both mean the same thing.

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Emma McCoy (B.A. Literature) is a poet and author trying her very best. She is the Assistant Editor of Last Syllable and a poetry reader for Whale Road Review and Minison Project. She’s the author of “In Case I Live Forever” (Alien Buddha Press 2022), and has been nominated for the Best of the Net 2024. She has work published in various spots and loves to make banana bread. Catch her on Twitter: @poetrybyemma Instagram: @emmawritesnreads