I was introduced to Bob Lindsey by the writer and activist Diane Wilson.  He was a private investigator for 13 years in Dallas, Texas and worked for NBC News in Frankfurt, Germany for many years, coached semi-pro and high school baseball in Germany for the past 10 years and was an international baseball scout in Europe for the Cincinnati Reds until 2010. He lived in Germany for the past 26 years and recently returned to his roots and now lives in his home town of Port O’Connor, Texas (the setting for the following poem).

 

We were the water warriors

by Bob Lindsey

 

*dedicated to Wade Wilburn

 

Wadin’ barefoot thru the water

Shufflin’ feet thru the sand

Shinin’ a Coleman Lantern thru the cold

Flounderin’ on the front beach.

 

Wade and I were water warriors,

Spears ready, thrusting at shadows

That were seldom, flat fish

Nestled in the sand.

 

We called them Gigs, these

Three pronged forks that gouged

The sandy waters – oh how we

Wanted to gig the big one.

 

More often than not, on nights

Moonlit, we meandered thru

Mossy waters, thru the knee high

Brine, wishing we had a boat.

 

But, we were just kids,

Kidding ourselves, that we

Were water warriors, great

Fishers making a living wage.

 

He knew I wasn’t and he

Knew he was, but he still

Let me hold the lantern,

Sometimes.

 

December 2006