Bodiless swans
feather the breeze
cottonwood tree puffs
skid along the surface
edging delicately down
to the algae mats

Small birds appear to
walk on green carpets
fluttering along twigs jutting up
between water-soaked roots

A single frog glurks
another croaks repetitively
triggering a belching circumference
amphibian territories
rounding off into silence

Ripples
subterranean turtles
water striders
the swift dip of a bird wing
gentle circles of doomed cottonwood seeds

Like a watercolor painting
stillness beneath
blends
stillness within
I take the landscape with me when I go

Kendal at Oberlin, OH, 2019. Photo credit: Rebecca Cardozo