"Full moon sky, the forest shivers with darkness lit, by green, gray, and brown under a starry heaven. 

This is where I find myself drawn

To a peaceful place, where stream and pond become one, there, shall I be, when sadness and shadow try to overtake, for here and only here can I escape from the trials of man, with paddle silently, only the plip of water drops in the black of star shimmer glass. "

Drawdown of Lake Wentworth, 2004

The lake disappears day by day,
trickles down Smith River into Crescent Lake,
surges over the dam into Lake Winnipesaukee.

A great blue heron
struts through shallows
with timeless grace

snapping turtles lurk
where grandchildren jump
from floats in summer

a lone bass cruises toward hordes of minnows

one crested cormorant takes wing,
departs for Belize

a mother loon heads south
leaving her offspring to find their way

The lake disappears
day by day,
like my memory
of treasured summers
by its shore.
by

Peg Mahoney