Lake

a poem entitled with a word that takes me back to my childhood

The lake to which I was born
Not in as a fish or a frog
Rather to
As though that pool of my father’s youth sought to raise me too

The scents of that place
Fill the nostrils of my memory
The earth there itself
Is part of my own flesh
Those waters running through my veins

A net dipped at the end of the dock
A bucket of water
Fishing sunnies and bluegills in the Summer sun
My dad pushes me off the end and tells me to swim!
I do
I learn to swim in that lake

Borne from swimming comes
EXTREME tubing
Whipping behind the boat
Flying over the waves of its wake
Tilting my body to stay afloat

Tilting like my grandmother upon her swinging bench
Wearing a cardigan in June
She watches us as the chimes sing in the trees above her
The irreplaceable bond of family

Like those Summer barbecues
The savory scent of brats and hot dogs
Slaked by sweet, sticky watermelon
Sunbathing with Aunts on that beach
Digging in the sand to find clay and make marbles

Until we are blessed with snow and cold
We grab some shovels and clear the ice
There are some rusty old skates in the shed
I slip and fall until I am gliding
Floating across that ice like a rocket through a clear sky

Through the lapping water of my recollection
Those lily pad memories
Of snail shells and sunshine and family
The Sandy Lake at the center of my heart