Onto The Frozen Lake
Eight years
old I’m ever ready for adventure
Dad takes
the fam out onto a frozen lake
Not just any
lake, Lake of the Woods, Oregon
One of God’s
jewels of nature, a sapphire
Mounted in
the malachite forest
And azurite
of a cloudless sky
In the deep
dark days of chicken-feather snow
The lake
didn’t just freeze but hibernated
Under a
layer of downy flakes of such
Even depth,
it looked one of Gram’s quilts
Stippled
with the stitches of tiny feet
Wondering
about in search of food
Now winter
has been taking a break and
The sun
bares its chest to dip into icy waters
A day or two
before out in the middle of the lake
It melted a
pool to swim in and the sleepy
Kokanee
wondered why snow mosquitos never
Landed on
the still surface of the dense water
Then last
night ice trolls from the north pole
Descended on
the lake for a long drink of Cascade
Waters
leaving as mysteriously as they came
The lake
pool was now a looking glass of the
Purest
emerald green ice with a flawless
Reflection
of all the surrounding ridges and pines
Eight years
old with hockey skates laced up tight
Gliding by the
awkward strokes of a novice
Yes it feels
like flying while Mom watches from
Her folding
chair ready with hot chocolate
And my older
sister carves her own patterns
Dad is wary but sees no cracks, smiles all
around
