a fish like grapes

In the deep ballast pool lingers
A perch so huge and old
It has forgotten to fear pike;
A boy of nine summers pops
His worm bait into the green
Pond and waits dangling his
Clarks sandals over the jetty
The perch glides out flicking
His red fins at a squadron of
Minnows which flee the great
Maw in a sudden silver spasm;
The worm squirms irresistibly
On the Woolworth's hook
Size 12 bought with sixpence
Last Saturday along with a box
Of mixed lead shot from bb to
Swan some of which now bear
The boy's toothmarks as they
Keep the porcupine quill erect
Wham !! The float vanishes as
The striped monster seizes the
Drowned annelid and dives
Under the jetty puzzled by
The piercing bronze barb
The boy's rod bends round
And he feels the jagging as
The great perch fights the
Nylon line tied by nimble
Fingers to the hook's eye
Mustad from Norway
They know all about
Hooks and this one holds
Fast in the scissor jaws
The boy steers the fish
Away from the safety
Of the line-snapping
Jetty piles and soon
It is visible thrashing
Furiously towards the
Net which his father
Holds out carefully
Knowing that this is
The catch of a lifetime
For his sun-browned scion;
The panicked flanks of the
Camouflaged predator slip
Over the lip of the net and
It is lifted dripping onto
The warm wooden planks
"well done son, it must weigh
At least two pounds"
They admire the defeated fish
And then gently slip it back
Into the pool where it belongs