Christine Dickson
Fly Fishing
If words become elusive, their mystery resurges.
Fascinated with sound and meaning,
The babbling child is not far
From the old man fly fishing for le mot juste.
Surprised by the jamais vu, jamais entendu of languages he knew,
He contemplates the cosy Latin of urbs and oppidum,
City, town, village, home.
Oh! Cast a line out on the river.
Catch the words repeated in the dark:
Your own name and the word for water.
Christine Dickson is an Ottawa writer who enjoys her day job as a psychiatrist / psychotherapist. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, she has lived in Canada since 1957— in Newfoundland, Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. She believes that attention to language, particularly metaphor, is as important in therapy as it is in poetry.
© Christine Dickson
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