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Lament for a lost net


Kahawai with rod reel and net, on metal hexagonal lure at the Wairau Bar, Marlborough, New Zealand.

Farewell, dear net.

We had some good times together. Alas, due to my absentmindedness, you were left at the edge of the river.

I came back to look for you! You were gone.

Photograph of the Wairau River, Marlborough, New Zealand, standing on the spot where I must have left my friend, the net, for the last time.

I hope you were picked up by some avid young fisher, and have many more good times in the years to come – perhaps even more exciting than the kahawai (plural) and trout (singular) you helped me land.

While I do have two replacements coming, to see which best fills your empty spot in my pack, neither will ever truly take your place, but merely offer a new alternative to what is lost.

Farewell, dear net.

An uncomfortably poignant photograph taken on my last day with my lost friend.