Featured Poem from The Washington State Geospatial Poetry Anthology.

Poem by Bobbie Morgan.

Greek Chorus


Bobbie Morgan has recorded herself reading this poem. To hear the author read the poem in the style intended please use the audio player below. (Note: Currently this audio file will not work in Firefox or Opera Browsers.)

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Greek Chorus

The fisherman, with scent of forest earth in his nose, steps into the river,
sweet rush of water against his waders,
and casts a sunlit line across the riffle.

The fisherman’s wife,
in worn chenille robe,
aroma of morning coffee on her breath,
newspaper words toll like gavel blows :
“listed…final determination…threatened”

She knows that at this exact moment,
her husband hooks a perfect steelhead,
its stout jaw gives fight to the hook.

She feels the tautness in the line as it plays out in muscular resistance,
And she senses just when the rod rises hard
against struggle,
bringing the subdued fish to his
moment of tender release.

Fish and fisherman
exchange a pearlescent glance across species,
across millennia.

With eyes closed and both hands pressed flat against the newspaper to cage the words,
She watches the steelhead swim away, into fastness.

She imagines the smell of river water,
the long journey over ancient gravel redds.
The torque of his tailfin nudges her,
while she herself is caught, unable to move,
as her coffee goes cold.

“We, National Marine Fisheries Service,
are issuing a final determination
to list the distinct population segment of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Puget Sound,Washington, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act”



We are issuing a final determination
to list the distinct population segment of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Puget Sound,Washington, as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.



We are issuing a final determination
to list the distinct population segment of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), as a threatened species.


We list the distinct population segment of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) as a threatened species.


We list steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) as a threatened species.

We list Oncorhynchus mykiss as threatened.

We list Oncoryhnchus mykiss.

We are Oncorhynchus mykiss.