Not far into the forest of nature,

Yet far from the noise of the highway,

The lake sits silent, and calm, and still,

Just as I am, silent, calm, and still,

As I rest beside the lake.

 

On great stone of granite still warm from the earlier day’s sun,

I stare up at the stars and then at the lake,

or at the lake and then at the stars?

I am so tired I can hardly decipher

which is the sky and which is the lake,

which is the reflection and which is the reflected,

for the shining stars and glowing moon

are equally peaceful and beautiful in each,

for the lake sits silent, calm, and still,

Just as I sit silent, calm, and still,

As I rest beside the lake.

 

A wolf howls in the far distance,

but seems near in distance 

as its howl echoes off each mountain’s wall.

A duck, now two, disturbed from their sleep,

take flight from their places on the calm, silent lake.

 

The lake, upset by the departure of its duck friends,

sends small ripples of sadness across its surface,

causing the stars and moon to shiver

as I see, for just a moment, 

the sky of the night and the sky of the lake.

But the lake soon calms when its duck friends return

each content in gentle comfort of the other’s company.

With harmony newfound, nature is silent, calm, and still,

Just as I am silent, calm, and still

as the lake and ducks rest

silent, calm and still.