-- In the Gaze of the Lake --

John Herlihy

In the gaze of the lake lies

Mountains, moonbeams, miracles.

Forests stand silently as faithful spies,

Placid waters reflect them as ghostly sentinels.

The lake’s mind holds the mountain fast;

The pristine waters mirror what nature knows.

The mountain’s presence made to endure and last;

Its soul lives and breathes in a lake that glows.

Thru gorges and chasms, mountain waters fall;

In cascading downward, its voice roars in thunder.

With open arms, the lake takes in the waters, sees all,

As gentle mist rides the rush of breeze, invoking wonder.

The eye gaze of the lake now wild and primal,

Speaks of origins and source as its major feature.

What the lake sees in its gaze both infinite and eternal;

Ancient memory lies within the soul of this living creature.

The lake need never blink and is blind to see in the dark;

For all eternity, stars have nestled there in tender repose.

Midnight’s silence interrupted by the flight of a lark;

In unison, the now and the never express a thing no one knows.

The lake dresses itself in the colored vestments of the forest,

Myriad shades of green dye transparent waters in delight.

The blues, greens and greys, as florals stolen from a florist,

Ebony black tinged with star dust seen in the lake’s night.

Alas, though we seem done, we have forgotten the moon,

Whose crescent scimitar cuts thru the waters with pale light.

When full, mirrored in the lake as bride expecting her groom,

Thru shimmering waters making way thru the darkened night.

The lake’s eye travels light years gathering sense of the whole;

Its ship a mirror vessel to travel and reflect our universe deep.

In seeing the cosmos, it sees within the deep cavern of its soul;

Its waters a reservoir of cosmic tears all the universe did weep.

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(c) John Herlihy 28 May 2020