CONTENTS      THE OLD POND     QUIETUS EST     THE LAST POND     A PROPER CIVILIZATION     PREPARATION     HANSEL AND GRETEL: A DOCUMENTARY OF THEIR LIVES      AUTHORS

Still, the surface paused,
drifting silence curved around
rotten, black bracken, cracked
logs, long trunked brown trees
at rest, arrested silent reeds like
animals a foot lifted, grazing, the ducks,
heads turned watching, opening to the heat,
frosted rings of water around the overspill, broken,
unopened pods poised, waiting, not waiting, dank
green ferns fanning the edges, blue dragon
flies careless, noiseless, skimming brief
air, sliding deeper hidden under
scum, worlds of slow moving
creatures uncaught, unnamed,
scanning their sky, their slime
brown mud homes safe,
unstirred, windows
shuttered against
the day.

Copyright 2006 by Becky Dennison Sakellariou