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stanza 1-4:

"To fish from a cloud in the sky
You must find a comfortable spot,
Spend a day looking down
Patiently, clear-sighted."

In the first couple stanzas, it seems as if the author is giving us instructions. The author explains the first part describing from a humans viewpoint preparing to go "cloud fishing"

stanza 5-7:

Peer at your ceiling:
Where a light dangles, hook & line
Could be slipping through.

I interpreted these stanzas as the fishes point of view. A fishes "ceiling" (another use of a hyperbole) is the ocean surface. Sometimes, if the fish looks up, he will be able to see a hook and line dangling in the water.

stanza 8-12

Under the hull of a boat
A fish will see things this way,
Looking up while swimming by-
A wavering pole’s refraction
Catching its eye.

This stanza cluster explains how a fish would see things from his eyes. The author uses her creative imagination to create this mental picture of what the fish could be thinking.

Stanza 13-15

What will you catch?
With what sort of bait?
Take care or you’ll catch yourself,

The author uses rhetorical questions as she asks either himself or the fish questions that can't be answered.

stanza 16-21

A fish might say,
As inescapable skeins of shadow
Scatter a net
Over the face of the deep.

This is a great closing to the end. I imagine the ending going black as the net covers the rest of the story. I really enjoy this poem.

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In this poem, there is great use of imagery. It gives us vivid mental images and creates visual representation of ideas in our minds.

Stanza 17, 18, & 19 -

As inescapable skeins of shadow
Scatter a net
Over the face of the deep.

This really created a mental image putting myself in a fishes shoes (I just used a hyperbole -- fish can't actually wear shoes;) ) In my mind of a fish seeing a big shadow on top of him. I related this to when I am swimming, and lets say, a surfboard glides over me as I am at the bottom of the ocean, this creates a dark inescapable shadow.  I learned that when I relate thing and re-create the feelings authors use in their poems, it helps me generate a better understanding.

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One of the lines that stuck out to me the most was stanza 16:
"Take care or you’ll catch yourself"
This relating to the fish, If he doesn't watch out for himself and take care of himself, he could end up getting himself caught.

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The voice in this poem is written from the point of view of a fish. It gives the audience a way of taking things in from a different perspective then our own. In this case, a fish. This is called persona. There is no doubt that the speaker is passionate about trawling and expresses how fish perhaps see things. The speakers tone is very calm and content. This poem gives us a feeling of peace. Cloud Fishing highlights the feeling of serendipity and having a clear mind state. It almost feels like cloud fishing is a way to de-brief and let go of stress you may have. I sure know Id love to go cloud fishing.

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In this poem, the author gives a couple Rhetorical Questions, some like:

What will you catch?
With what sort of bait?

The author uses this as a dramatic effect on the audience and makes us think about the message thats being carried across to us. This poem reminds me of instructions in a way, because of how the author uses her words.

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There isn't any "deep" meaning behind this poem. I think the beauty of it is in the authors immense imagination. The author doesn't really know how things are from a fishes perspective, but he talks as if he does know, for effect. For example,

stanza 16:
"A fish might say"

This is an exaggeration because a fish can't indeed say anything. Anyhow, it creates marvelous effect and emphasis.

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The author uses the metaphor of talking from a fishes point of view. It's almost like, the author is teaching the audience precisely how to "cloud fish". The use of enjambement in this poem give "cloud fishing" a very significant effect. It contrasts the ideas and really makes the audience think about what exactly is going on. There is also great use of hyperboles in this poem, for example,

the first stanza which is,

"To fish from a cloud in the sky"

You technically can't actually fish from a "cloud in the sky".

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Born: May 18, 1954 (age 64 years)

From: Patterson, NJ

Phillis Levin is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.

Source: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/phillis-levin