Near our home there is a magic lake.

Not a big lake but a very pretty one.

Two lakes really but once it was one, I think.

More like large ponds set among aspen trees,

willow, popular, birch, evergreens and bushes

of blackberry, salmon berry, Huckleberry

and red current, offering a snack or a bucket full

of jam, once some work has been done, by Nana.

It is a good place to take grand children.

Or should that be, a grand place to take good children

to introduce them to Mother Nature.

 

Magic, why?

Well it is the sort of lake where happy

stories unfold and birds gather to

build their nests and rear their young.

Owls glide among the trees and

over the paths that ring the lakes.

If you are lucky you may catch a glimpse

of one, having a wash or taking a drink,

the secret keeper of reflections.

 

We live with magic all around us, every day.

Not the wiz bang type but the quiet moments

when something wonderful happens without

us pressing a button or flicking a switch.

The kind that makes your heart go bumpity bump

or a smile finds a friendly mouth to play with.

A squirrel chunters from a low branch,

A woodpecker plays a deft roll on his drum.

Lilies bow their heads to dance the breeze.

How beautiful nature is, how fortunate we are

to remember it all so clearly,

close your eyes and open your heart.

 

 
David Garlick, Sidney, November 2009