Dream Lake

By Catherine Sawers

You don’t know the meaning

Of the word panic until

You’ve seriously weighed the likelihood

That a coyote will find your frozen body.

Nothing can be more terrifying

Than the sun setting behind the hill

And your legs are frozen like a block of wood

And your trousers only get more bloody.

When there’s no one to hear your screaming

You have to protect your throat from the chill

When clawing at the ice does no good

Because your thrashing makes the lake more slushy.

When every choice is about how to remain living

And the arctic gale on your cheek is shrill

You think that surely your goose is cooked

And can’t believe that you acted so rashly.

There’s no time for rueful misgivings

If you want to get back to your ville

In a while your legs will be thawed

And you’ll live to tell an incredible story.