This Is

This is the moment when the frogs stop singing.

This is the moment when you can hear

your footsteps on the dirt path

around the lake, when you can hear

your footsteps stop, when nothing else

in the world around you moves.

This is.

This is the moment when tiredness

drops from your shoulders, when

all the other burdens melt into

a puddle at your tired feet, and fog

settles between your toes. This

feels like goodness itself

When the frogs start again their boisterous

chorus and the sun descends from view

and the insects join in echoing harmony

and children run in a tried frenzy

down the path and around the lake

and you’re too tired to chase them down

so you call and call for them to come back,

this is the moment when you have to leave,

bedtime is waiting and if, if

they’re good, there will be dessert.

Don Lasko is a retired public high school English teacher living in Hightstown. He is a graduate of Oberlin College and SUNY Stony Brook.