Cyprinus Carpio · Cuyahoga River

The Common Carp

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by David Hassler

Attention is the beginning of devotion
—Mary Oliver
 
I remember how their large, slow-moving bodies
hung in the water under low birch branches
like burnished gold pendants, dull lanterns
shimmering in the dark current of the Cuyahoga.
 
As a child I meandered the riverbank, dragging a stick,
living those moments not in time but eternity.
The muddy river flowed through me,
seeped into my porous skin, the way water
soaked our basement floor after a heavy rain.
My sense of self was permeable.
 
Years later, still wandering, I arrived in Japan
and encountered the carp in a different
light, named in another tongue.
Bred for their colorful patterns,
treasured as living jewels, their name, koi,
means affection and love.
According to legend a carp swam upstream
and became a dragon.
 
Pollution tolerant and common in my Cuyahoga,
they are enshrined here in temple ponds,
flown as bright-colored windsocks atop poles,
swimming in currents of air.
 
Half-way around the world, in another language,
I return to my childhood river
and discover something about myself.
Standing on a small garden bridge,
staring down into the still, temple pond,
I see that what is common can be treasure,
what is slow is strong,
my muddy Cuyahoga still flowing.

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