Eels and the Sargasso Sea and a Postcard.

Welcome to Poetry Friday, hosted today by Tabatha Here. Thank you so much for hosting, Tabatha, and I look forward to what you and everyone has to offer us this week. I know it will warm up the cold here in Upstate New York.

I have been reading, as it’s the best way for me to get new ideas, to go beyond my world. This week I read a fascinating book entitled EELS, by James Prosek.

Actually it’s the second time I read it because it’s about a fish that has an amazing life cycle which I appreciate as I grew up on a river known for eels.

When I was a child I went fishing in the Delaware River with my brother and pulled one of these out of the water. Needless to say I was not drawn to this creature. It was as scary to look at as it was harmless. And I discovered they tasted good deep fried.

But now this freshwater eel, scientific name, Anguilla Rostata, is endangered, mostly because of hydroelectric dams in rivers. Also, there is a tremendous appetite for eel in countries outside the U.S. It is considered delicious in Japan, and has become extremely expensive to eat. (For some reason, the taste of eel has never caught on in America.) There are efforts to grow eels artificially, though it’s slow going.

Eel are catadromous fish, which means they are born in salt water yet grow to adulthood in freshwater. So that requires that the tiniest eels, ride the sea currents to coastlines where they swim up freshwater rivers. Thus: the following poem. 

THE AMERICAN EEL

In the middle of Atlantic Ocean,
in the Sargasso Sea,
thousands and thousands
of baby eel are hatched 
in salt water.

tiny and see-through as glass, 
they float and swim the ocean currents,
heading to the North American coastline,
to find freshwater.
 
They find a river and follow it
into the continent,
living on clams,
fish and frogs

for five to thirty years
more or less they grow.
 
until one day
as if something calls to them,
they head back down that river.

No one knows exactly why,
but eels always return 
to their birthplace,
the Sargosso Sea.

The females lay eggs.
The males fertilize them.

Soon, thousands of new baby eel 
wiggle along the currents
back to the coastline, 
to find a river.

Where they will grow,
and return again someday
to the waters
where they were born.  


© Janice Scully 2022

Just for their remarkable determination, Eel deserve our respect and protection in spite of their slithery, slimy appearance.

After reading about eels, readers, you deserve something more beautiful, so I will end with this collage postcard from Margaret Simon that arrived in the mail.

“Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.” E. Dickenson.

And this poem:

A new year

new ideas

growing buds

to find a garden

already blooming.

by Margaret Simon

May you all add to whatever is already blooming in your artistic gardens. Thank you, Tabatha for hosting this week’s Poetry Friday.

19 thoughts on “Eels and the Sargasso Sea and a Postcard.”

  1. I don’t know anything about eels, until now, and a new word, too: “catadromous”. It’s wonderful to tell the tale in a poem! I do know that they are not appealing to me, but it is interesting about the love of eating them in other countries. I am always intrigued by the way animals have evolved, like the fact they’re born in saltwater, navigate to freshwater. Thanks, Janice!

  4. I love learning of your fascination with eels! Your poem taught me many new things. Thank you! xo

  5. Loved learning about eels from you, Janice! I didn’t know anything about them. I’m sorry to hear that they’re endangered.
    Margaret’s postcard is beautiful, isn’t it? <3

  6. This is a wonderful poem packed with imagery and information. I love when a poem is also a way into seeing something new and different. Thanks for posting my postcard. I could cluck about the print quality but should just sit with gratitude.

  7. I now have new respect for eels, thanks to this fascinating post. Never knew they were born in salt water and then grew up in fresh water! Wonderful poem tracing their life cycle. I don’t think I’m quite ready to eat eel, though . . . 🙂

  9. Eels-such an interesting subject and I always love how you do your research, Janice. While the eel is a strange-looking fish, I have acquired a taste for it in sushi. I imagine your early fishing days were filled with lots of fun remembrances. Margaret’s card is a beauty.

  10. I enjoyed the lesson and poem. Eels will never be my favorite, but I believe they do come into the Delaware River, which is not too far from me, and I believe I have seen people catching them there. Seems that they do the opposite of salmon… interesting! Thanks so much.

  12. Wow! Thanks for all the fascinating tidbits about eels. We sometimes go to a local fish ladder to watch the fish swim by as they bypass the dam. There’s a glass wall below the surface of the water so you can get a good look at alewives, the occasional salmon, and EELS. I admire your admiration of them because for me (sorry!), they are nightmare territory! Eek!

  13. Beautiful post Janice– I think the “…” book you shared is fascinating and I love Prosek’s artwork too! Thanks for giving me such an in depth look at the eel via your poem, your circulatory poem follows the curves of the eel’s body.

    Thanks also for sharing Margaret’s lovely postcard, sounds like a good idea to begin dreaming about gardens!

  14. Fascinating post about eels, Janice! Thank you! I like how you read to find more inspiration. I love facts and sharing them – I would like to share more facts in poems like you were able to do with the eels.

  16. How did I miss commenting on this wonderful poem last week? I am sorry my comments are dreadfully late. What a great post. I always wondered what an eel actually is. It’s a fish! OK. To me, they look like snakes that live in fishworld. So, I needed clarification.
    This poem fills me with the wonder of a lifecycle…that calling to a place and searching back to it. Such a beautiful journey in an animal that gives me shivers of dread. Thank you for the beauty.

Comments are closed.