Bare feet dock-dangling down,
memories morning-cleansed
in gentle lakewater.
Loons warble back and forth,
one zooms under me
at supernatural speed.

A boy casts out, reels in
a small sunny.
As it fights against the hook,
a large mouth bass
clamps down on it
but for reasons unknown
lets it go. When he lands it
the boy yells for his dad
and they all come down to hear
the story, bearing witness
in summer heat.

Bullfrogs bellow
over by the lily pads, full glottal,
defiant against all odds.
O lake of my childhood
gelatinous frogspawn
hatching into tadpoles
floats in your watercolor cove,
raucous scream-birds
swoop and holler
on a dance, or a whim.

Image credit:Karl Egger

Mary MacGowan's chapbook, Spider Lake, was published by Kattywompus Press in 2019. She earned her M.Lit with a poetry writing concentration from Drew University. She got her master's in Art Therapy from Pratt Institute in 2002. A very long time ago she was a music major at NYU as a Singer/Songwriter. She's has had over 100 poems featured in literary journals such as Adelaide, Dash, Change Seven, The Literary Review, The South Carolina Review, Apple Valley Review, POEM, and Manorborn. Mary illustrated a children's book using song lyrics she wrote with a friend, it's called Baby Ride - available on Amazon and has sold exactly zero copies. She enjoys slow walks to catch the poem or whatever it is that may need catching.