LAKE EFFECT

A single fish leapt from a tired lake
in quiet time’s best moment,

its ruddy sheen a glint in June’s near sun,
scales of silver coins shone and tempted
like a ballerina’s milky pink
bare shoulder,

seconds flashed and poured like rain
or bright revealed light,
drenched the boat of foreign tourists
with joyful scintillated pleasure,

a lone trout alive in dual commingling
worlds of air and fluid,
mystery--dripped and daring,
this gleaming Piscean druid

an exclamation point
marked the day’s
unwritten story
in swift explosion
of sheer so sudden
wonder sparked
in steaming
measure,

as life brought
forth again
its purely
grateful
treasure.