We’d catch carp
in the river
put-em on a stringer

walk home
through the alleys
of the boulevard homes

throw them over
the privacy fences
into the backyard pools

their bottom sucking
mouths still gasping
for their muddy water lives

Selected byNolcha Fox
Image credit: Sara Kurfeß

Thomas J Strong Bio

I was born in St. Paul, Mn the oldest boy of ten children. I attended St. Marks grade school and St.Paul Central high school. After high school I tried attending college (3 times) but dropped out and spent 4-5 years traveling. I finally graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BS-Chemical Engineering in 1981, got married and spent the next 35 years working and raising a family. I retired in 2017 and am working full time pursuing my muses.