The earth was bound in ice

glaciers moved, tossed boulders

across the land like hopscotch pebbles

 

into the moraine before there was a lake

between trees before trees. Witness to history

these giants watched oak forests felled

 

until all were gone. Replaced by pines, tall

skinny specimens reach for the sun, succumb

to beetles, lightening. Lichen-covered branches,

 

cones pack small red wagons, perfect weapons

for a summer game. Pockets filled with fireflies,

cousins' leap from stone to stone, moss covered

 

velvet thick, ice slick, heedless of skinned knees,

the setting sun infused with purples and pinks

from Lauren's sandals, gold from Barbie's hair.

 

Paddling toward Millstone Island, a lone kayak

shimmers on the Lake, a bug of the surface,

a stonefly, a drop of glacier water.