Taking After

Two Red Sussex roosters with deep mahogany-red plumage and black tails, one older and heavier, one young and slighter, in matching brown herringbone tweed flat caps and moss-green knitted waistcoats, standing side by side at the end of a wooden jetty on a misty river in the early morning, two fishing rods resting on the boards and on rod rests in front of them, red-tipped floats on the still water, willows on the far bank

Both Caps at the Same Angle

The younger one has the cap now, and the tilt of the cap, and since breakfast the habit of clearing his throat before saying nothing at all. Two floats sit out on the river, and neither of them moves.

13 September 2026