N-Sid-Sen, 2003


This is the year of paved roads
-no tar and pebbles to distract us-
Last evening, a smooth drive into camp,
moon roof open, radio playing Lennon’s Imagine
to the trees and sky.

This will be a year of music:
dancers in the pavilion,
guitars pulled straight from the fire.

A year of young men and women,
forty-one to forty five.
Finally, the numbers almost even!

And don’t forget the Bear,
his secret watch from
the thimbleberry bush.

Make this a year of new friends,
the shy and loud - all the same -
each seeking to be known
as a unique point of light
in our N-Sid-Sen sky.

And make this a year of immersion:
water in the Lake, rain from on high.
Last night we swam
that lake and I saw how black
the world can be, beyond
our small flashlight on the dock
How lonely! - if not for friends,
their voices calling
back and forth
across dark waters.

Gayle Kaune
Aug. 3, 2003