At Lake Scugog by Troy Jollimor

Troy Jollimor

At Lake Scugog by Troy Jollimor

T.

I think this week will be one of those where I’m going to work myself ragged. Here’s a poem while I’m waiting for better days.

At Lake Scugog

Troy Jollimor

1.

Where what I see comes to rest,

at the edge of the lake,

against what I think I see

and, up on the bank, who I am

maintains an uneasy truce

with who I fear I am,

while in the cabin’s shade the gap between

the words I said

and those I remember saying

is just wide enough to contain

the remains that remain

of what I assumed I knew.

2.

Out in the canoe, the person I thought you were

gingerly trades spots

with the person you are

and what I believe I believe

sits uncomfortably next to

what I believe.

When I promised I will always give you

what I want you to want,

you heard, or desired to hear,

something else. As, over and in the lake,

the cormorant and its image

traced paths through the sky.

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