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Meadowlark Lake
By Abbie Johnson Taylor
Copyright 2021.

A hot summer Saturday,
I’m about thirteen, brother Andy seven years younger,
we set forth in the pick-up,
Andy and me in back, Mother and Dad in the cab,
drive thirty miles south from Sheridan, Wyoming, to Buffalo,
then west into the mountains,
arrive at our destination in mid-afternoon.
Once the truck comes to a complete stop,
Andy leaps out.
I, with my limited vision, wait for Dad to lower the tailgate and help me down.

We check in, find our cabin,
one room with three double beds and a cookstove,
restrooms and showers in a separate facility.
We rent a boat, row out to the middle of the lake.
Dad and Andy try unsuccessfully to fish
while Mother and I watch, enjoy the pristine lake’s beauty,
blue sky, and trees,
listen to the twitter of a meadowlark.
***
The above poem appears in the summer quarterly issue of The Avocet, which can be downloaded at: https://abbiescorner.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/the-avocet-summer-2022.pdf It was inspired by a family vacation we took when I was a teenager. You can click the link below to hear me read it.