The Angler

The search is over, the battle done

The fish is beaten, the angler's won

But simple stories make longer tales

No consolation if he had failed

Through wind and desert, Blackberry Hole

Coyote and rattler had made him old

No it ain't easy, it's on the borderline

Between health and madness, the way he bides his time

Fin to fin in every log-jam

This is where they lie

The Deschutes is hot, the bottom's black

They're eye-to-eye

My oh my what fun to be on your own

Down foaming rapids into the deep black hole

Through thorns and rockslides for to reach his goal

And golden chances, he let them slip away

Or was he waiting for the Judgement Day?

They really nailed 'em on the deadline

This is where they lie

Where the water's fast, the current's strong, their eye-to-eye

My oh my what fun to be on your own

But on the thirteenth morning when the sun was high

he tricked that steelhead and saw the line go tight

Two spirits fighting, two creatures bold

Bad luck and trouble had finally lost their hold

Fin to fin in every log-jam

This is where they lie

The Deschutes is hot, the bottom's black

They're eye-to-eye

I see why he spend his time on his own