Serenity

Well beyond the roar
of the swollen, coursing
mountain stream,  the 
small lake sits modestly
serene, about it the forest
of hemlock, yellow birch
pine and spruce crowding
its narrow shores, sun
slanting through the
green canopy to create
diamonds of light
reflected on its passive
surface. Straw lilies and
bunchberries flower in
abundance, succeeding
the trilliums surrendering
their glory as the woods
approach the heat of the
afternoon and hungry
clouds of blackflies rest
among blueberry bushes
awaiting unsuspecting prey.
None stir on this spring day
not even the trill of a thrush
to be heard in the humid
and hushed forest.