I didn’t want to touch it,

It was too wet and slimy,

There was no need to confirm it.

They told me not to worry,

My friend bragged he’d get them all,

I didn’t realize I was afraid of success.

One of the grown-ups did it for me,

She put it in a bucket, and I watched it squirm with the others,

It was no barrel, but it would do.

I touched the ground, and squiggling flesh,

But I was too inexperienced to set it up myself,

Someone ended up doing it for me after I pricked myself.

It was night, and some of the others were boating,

My friend tried to explain something about bottles, and food,

I just kept looking in the bucket.

I didn’t get any more after that,

The others got enough for our dinner,

I remember walking towards the illuminating car beams.

I didn’t know what to do first when it caught on,

Cartoons made it seem so difficult,

Though it wasn’t too big.

Years later I think back on it,

It wasn’t my first time, but it also was,

I had fun there learning in the dark with my friend,

Sitting on the lake pier with a line in the water,

I bet next time no grown-up will need to help me,

And, I’ll catch way more than one.