Fall Whispers to Sacandaga

A hush falls over the trees

and settles against the water,

cool rippling across

the lukewarm shallows.

The lake is draining,

sand and rocks exposed,

basking in the sunlight

as the foam retreats.

New treasures and worlds surface

as the landscape shifts—

lake plants greet swimmers' legs

stretching out of the murk,

boulders once hidden in the depths

now glimpse the Sun's rays,

and long lost jewelry, sunglasses and crushed glass

emerge with the current, sludgy and stained.

Leaves drop like flies,

crinkled handkerchiefs

kiss the beaches

and litter splintered docks.

Cardinal and cone flowers wither

as their petals give way,

scattering across quaking

fields of bluegrasses and fescues.

While Mother Nature deadheads

her seasonal garden of splendor,

the animals spread word

of autumn's arrival, weeks away.

Along Sacandaga's shores

and islands adorned with towering pines,

eagles soar over human bobbleheads

gawking at their screeching prestige.

Crows and blackbirds join the chorus,

a cacophony of calls

carried on a breeze

growing crisper each day.

Carp and bass chug along,

perusing the rocks and roots

of waters reaching shallower

depths by the hour.

Damselflies and butterflies linger,

though their movements are sluggish,

cool temperatures stiffening their wings,

making flight perilous.

We can all feel it,

that point in the summer

when everything

changes.

As the countdown begins,

students cling to vacation

and the Sun disappears

minutes earlier each day,

I watch from the shore

and smile at the difference

between now

and spring.

The revival of life

at the start of the summer

already transforming, the lake ready

to welcome a frosty, restful autumn.