THE BOATMAN

He was waiting at the dock

in a Bass Cat Puma STS

with a rumbling 250 Pro XS Merc,

a Minn Kota troller and enough

Garmin and Hummingbird tech

to sink the thing.

It had power pole blades,

Blue Tooth sound,

and a live well

that had never seen anything live.

He wore a Cabela’s cap

set at a rakish angle

over a crewcut

and a bloodshot squint.

He said Charon

was down with the flu

and he was filling in.

When he took my coins 

from my eyes

and swung out across the river

he didn’t need to remind me

that it was a one-way trip.

Gregg Norman is a Canadian poet living and writing in a lakeside cottage with his wife and a small dog who runs the place. His work has been placed with many international poetry journals and literary magazines. He has been nominated for Best of the Net and The Pushcart Prize.