midaugust vermont poem

50 degrees when I swim
this early sunny mid august
morn a stiff north wind
but these choppy waves
are the same temperature
as yesterday and last week

while I dry off on the hill
I am gladdened to see
before a rotting log a
sentinel stand of pure
white indian pipes they’ve
sprung up in the night not
grown in that spot before

This article appears in Oct 1-7, 2015.