Under the dogwood & pines
5.8.2008
Under the dogwood and pines we watched him paddle to the middle of the lake
I must have stood there with feet planted
like a mule
like a stone of fear that I was
You hummed an unfamilar tune before heading back to the cabin
He must have thought we were timid, shy
when really the kill-lightning kept us from swimming and canoing that lake
I would have gone out and sat like a duck upon the feverish water
Had I known he would be gone the next year
Had you known we all would have drifted away by fall