Water's Edge

Lantern light reflected off the still water and threw shadows through the cypress trees while clouds passed in front of the moon. At the end of the dock, a solitary fisherman sat, casting and smoking, smoking and casting. It was intensely quiet, a poetic sort of night full of moonlight and shooting stars and the soft scent of magnolias and newly cut grass. A cream colored cat with sable brown markings materialized from the rushes at the edge of the water and delicately made its way up the flagstone
path, with a velvet tread. It stopped a few feet away from where I sat on the steps of the cottage, gave me a brief and inquisitive look, then melted away into the shadows without a sound.

Across the lake, I could see a neat line of houseboats, some dark and just silhouettes, some with soft colored lights strung across their bows, all safely tied up and tethered for the night like a row of sleepy horses in shuttered stalls. A single sailboat, its lone mast rising toward the clouds, rocked a slight distance away. There were signs of life all around me, but they were signs of peace and rest. From the steps I watched a young couple at the picnic table, arms about each other and unaware of their surroundings - they kissed, drew back, kissed again and then walked slowly away from each other with frequent over the shoulder looks - in my mind, I could hear their goodnight smiles. The very night air was content.

Such nights come rarely and such serenity should be treated with respect and gratitude. Life can be anxious, fast forwarding at a breakneck pace with no time for quiet thoughts or reflection. Busy, late, and over burdened displace the evening gardens where cream colored cats stroll and the water and the shore meet in harmony. I knew this night would not come again and I gave it up with a sense of sadness, holding the memory as best I could for morning.

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes. ~e.e. cummings