BY BEN GORELICK
Lakes have always been
a source of catharsis for me.
I dangle my legs off docks
or chairs in the late spring months.
The chill of the water shocks
my feet at first and gradually
becomes a slight icy ache in my skin.
It reminds me I am real.
Schools of minnows
gather around my toes.
I watch them dart at
every slight gesture.
I stay still and watch
them slowly shimmer with the settling sand,
planting myself in their ecosystem.
It reminds me I am real.
Wandering deeper,
I always look upwards.
When above the water I see
the world as I usually do, but
if I just sink down a bit, I can see
what the shimmering minnows see, and how the water
becomes a mirror, with a clearer image than any other.
It reminds me I am real.
