2. Negaunee

I’ll never forget Negaunee,
squatting, staring over
Superior water’s, cold,
                                       windswept,
                                                             waves.

One wondrous ripple rolls close
whispering, ‘I’ll never understand her’
and throws itself upon the stony shore.

I watch the tiny beads, shatter and squirm back
towards the great cold lake, and I have nothing to say.

Another is thrust up, quickly proclaiming
‘I! I am to blame!’, and breaking in dissolution
polishes damp stone.

I poke between pebbles,
 ‘Surely, not you, dear ripple.
Surely not you.’

I’ll never forget Negaunee,
squatting, staring over,
Superior water’s, cold
                                      windswept,
                                                             waves.