Okauchee, poem by Dirk Velvet

OKAUCHEE
by Dirk Velvet

The
Blue Jays
woke us
at dawn
with their
jeering
calling to the cottage
from
weeping willows
whose roots
reached as far into the lake
as onto the land
The water was
cool green
at its best
and gray-black at its worst
Okauchee
nothing else mattered
Not
tangling weeds
floating fish
sinking rafts
Okauchee
it was all we ever knew
or
wanted
of summer
At dusk we piled into the attic
Strewed across mattresses
no longer wanted at home
we listened to
the bats chatter
as it lulled us
to
sleep

( Okauchee Lake — Okauchee, Wisconsin )

Dirk Velvet’s poetry appears in the Silver Birch Press Green Anthology — a collection of poetry and prose by over 70 authors living in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Europe, and Africa — available at Amazon.com (Kindle version free until 12/21/13).

Photo: Ken Blackwell, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Okauchee, Poem by Dirk Velvet

OKAUCHEE

by Dirk Velvet

The

Blue Jays

woke us

at dawn

with their

jeering

calling to the cottage

from

weeping willows

whose roots

reached as far into the lake

as onto the land

The water was

cool green

at its best

and gray-black at its worst

Okauchee

nothing else mattered

Not

tangling weeds

floating fish

sinking rafts

Okauchee

it was all we ever knew

or

wanted

of summer

At dusk we piled into the attic

Strewed across mattresses

no longer wanted at home

we listened to

the bats chatter

as it lulled us

to

sleep

( Okauchee Lake. Okauchee Wisconsin )

Dirk Velvet’s poetry will appear in the Silver Birch Press Green Anthology, a collection of poetry and prose from writers around the world — available March 15, 2013.

Photo: Ken Blackwell, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED