"Ode to silky water" - a poem.

I've been attending a weekly writer's group this summer and it's been great. Yesterday I typed up all the writings I've done so far for the prompts and assignments. Then from a few paragraphs of prose, I crafted a poem. It's an ode to warm lakes (which I miss here in Colorado!) and is getting me excited for the upcoming family reunion/vacation in August in Wisconsin-- by a lake, of course. Sigh... and read on:

I remember—

silky water, languid,

temperature of a bathtub

so poignant in my mind.

impossibly warm--

when large bodies of water

and the water from the hose

are so icy cool.

impossibly smooth--

in summer evenings

of the mosquito-filled Midwest

no wind to disturb

so calming, so quiet.

a consistency so distinct--

sit on the cabin dock, dip your feet in

watch the water-skating bugs

bend the surface

just heavy enough to dent it.

so satiny-- it must be

full of skin-moisturizing algae bits

soaked up from years of

sitting still in a lake.

so unlike clear-as-air water--

purified by mountain descent

and sunlight-sifting

as it tumbles down

the Arkansas River…

yes, the water here in Colorado

is so foreign

to lake water in Wisconsin--

that it’s nearly wholly

A Different Substance.

©Ellen H. 2015 

[*Reminder: please do not copy or use any of my writing without my permission.]