‘WHEN FISHERMEN CANNOT GO TO SEA, THEY REPAIR THEIR NETS’

Ashok Silwal

He had never seen the sea
In real life
But he had seen photographs
Of winkled-faced fishermen
With gnarled hands
Sitting on the sand
Repairing nets.

In those days,
You could not go to sea
There was a storm.

But they knew
That if they wanted to take fish
To eat
The nets had to be repaired.

Then he thought of the mountains
Of his childhood:
The same when it snowed
And he spent his time
Helping tidying up the tools.

It took these forced ‘rests’
Not just for working with your hands
But also to strengthen you inside
To prepare you to future activities
It took to feel stronger
To evaluate, to measure.

Then he comeback to himself
And he knew that
He would have done all he could
To have perfect nets and tools
When the storm dies down
And the snow would melt.

He would have made this lockdown
A lesson and an opportunity
To start again stronger
Without giving up.