Songs from Devil's Lake

October 1

Sunny. A mild breeze over lake


A ragged old pine has found
a perch at the top of a ridge rock column,
not waving anymore to the mild breeze
that we see dip then scallop the surface
of the blue lake below like pounded metal –
too stiff, too old at the hips, –
its needles have all scattered
to blanket the mammoth rockfall
underneath now for its hundredth year,
where the mice surely huddle
in their creased homes scooting
these warm perfect sticks to cozy beds.