joe the fisherman

illustrations by konrad kraus

joe was a fisherman. but he could not catch any fish. he decided to give up being a fisherman. and become something else. he became a real estate salesman. but he could not sell any houses. and he gave up on that too. he bought s gun and hunted for deer and moose and wild boar in the woods. but he could not even kill a rabbit or possum. he went door to door selling bibles and encyclopedias. he sold a few bibles but no encyclopedias and he was laid off. he became a panhandler. but all he got was abuse and cold stares and advice to get a job. he painted pictures - mostly of cats and dogs and clowns - and tried to sell them in the street. but nobody bought any of his pictures. he put an ad in the newspaper offering his services as an assassin. but he received no responses. in despair he tried to write a best selling novel, but nobody wanted to read it. he wondered if he should start over and go back to being a fisherman. he remembered that the one thing he had had even a little success at was selling bibles. he decided to start his own religion. he realized that starting a new religion was a hard lonely game. but life is a hard lonely game. joe made up a god named mabu. but could not persuade anybody to follow mabu’s teachings. mabu appeared to joe in a dream and called him a loser and a quitter. but joe would not quit. he decided to carry on. and he is carrying on. somewhere he is walking the earth, still trying this and that, always something new when the last thing falls through. joe is not giving up. how about you?