Loki salmon swimming silver
in the sparkling sea
spying on whales ‑‑

“hey blow‑hole blubber
brain!  Hey big fish!”

Loki, like a sun‑
beam shooting through
the deep, singing

mixed‑blood songs ‑‑

“Loki giant
son, Loki
fire‑falcon
god, Loki

serpent‑father
net‑weaver

apple‑thief, blind
deceiver of many

voices singing
in the sky and sea”

Loki like a shadow in the waves.

Calloused tar‑hand
fisherman casts
his net wide:

herring, sea salmon,
Loki wriggling, tail
flapping in well‑made

mesh:

“Oh, salmon struggling
on the beach, oh wise‑eyed

salmon slippery‑scale sun‑
blade fish, I’m no

one’s fool!  And who
are you?”

Two hours in the sun,
and parched
fish Loki scar‑throats

“Loki, I’m Loki, let me go
and fishes will be wishes

beach‑bum fisherman, flotsam’s
son, molester of dolphins

shack‑dweller, fish‑stinking…”

Fisherman sighs
“Oh, silver‑back deity
holy shape‑shifter, singer

of sweet songs, keep a civil
tongue”

and dumps him on the sand.

“Wish, swill‑bailer, chum‑doler
sea‑strand peasant, and may all
your roads lead to half‑rotting
Hel.”

Fisherman three‑wishes
Loki on the sunny
coast:

“May my nets
be always full, my

pockets stuffed
with gold,

and may the ladies
love me, everywhere

I go.”

“Well wished, fisherman, your nets
full of rocks
and seaweed, goldfish pouring

from your pockets
while she‑cats, ewes
and bitches

mew and bleat and moan behind
your golden‑weighted, well‑loved,
miserable steps.”

[Steven Klepetar’s work has appeared widely and has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.  His chapbook Thirty-six Crows was published in 2010 by erbacce-press.]