The North American Fly Fishing Forum - TWO BLOODS fly-fishing Poems

This review is about a book of poems titled “TWO BLOODS” written by Gary Metras and published by Split Oak Press.

You may wonder why I would review poems on a fly fishing forum. That is a fair question and the answer is these are poems written by a fly fisher about fly fishing. When I first got the book I set it aside not being a fan of most poems. Finally when I picked it up and read the first poem I was still not sure this was for me. By the third poem I realized these are wonderful poems that any fly fisher would enjoy. I started looking for the book when ever I had spare time to read. It wasn't that the poems got better as I read along; it was that I began to understand the stories and especially the feelings conveyed by the author.

Gary takes us fishing with him on streams that will be familiar to many. He shares brief moments of his fly fishing world in poems that will move a true fly fisher. We are fortunate that the author is a gifted poet who can write his emotions about fly fishing so everyone can share his experience. We have all been asked why we fly fish? I can never answer that question expressing my real deep feelings about what makes me a fly fisher. In this book of poems I think Gary touches the very essence of why we fly fish.

Here is just the beginning of a Poem that I enjoyed.

The Lost Trout

“When river water broke just
To my left side, less than an arm’s reach
away, up jumped the trout
to eye level, I stopped hauling
line from the fish’s twenty foot
rush toward me, a dark torpedo
faster than my hands’ agility. I knew
I lost it. I stood drained
of triumph until the sun licked
its soaring side and each scale in that
pink stripe shimmered and glowed like jewelry fit for a
goddess…..”

How can you not like poems like this? I have experienced the exact feeling that Gary writes about in this poem. These are the reasons why I fly fish.

Here is what Nick Lyons has to say about TWO BLOODS fly-fishing poems.

“Two Bloods richly evokes the life of rivers and their trout,
and also the spirit of a wise poet whose blood mingles with the life of both as he fly fishes. These are superb poems. They can stand proudly beside those of Richard Eberhardt, John Engles, and Ted Hughes.”

Nick Lyons, author of The Seasonable Angler

Gary Metras is the author of fifteen poetry collections. His poems, essays and reviews have appeared in many different journals. He is on the Board of Directors of the Pioneer Valley Chapter #276 of Trout Unlimited and fly fishes the rivers and streams of western Massachusetts as often as possible.

I may not be a poet but I like this book a lot and highly recommend it. If you take your time and savor each poem as I did, you will like it too.

Frank

TWO BLOODS fly-fishing poems, are available directly from the publisher or Amazon.

Split Oak Press

Amazon