Ode to Rice Lake

There’s a certain calm that comes over Rice Lake –
As the summer blossoms bloom golden in the sunlight
As a light breeze hugs the trees & gently caresses the waterways
Once trod by native feet
Majestic stands the Victoria Inn atop a grassy knoll
Like a queen on a throne overlooking a natural paradise
As the sun sets over western islands, its rays stretch across sparkling waters
It plays hide and seek with my camera
It’s protected by the trees as porch chairs provide a break from the day’s chase
Tetley Tea Bags takes his evening stretch before nonchalantly traversing steps
Defeated by Don & Donna’s admonitions against venturing out after dark

The clouds over Black Island looked like puffs of cotton
Waiting to be plucked from a blue watercolor sky
Hard to fathom such beauty in a man-made world
It was the same when I watched the way Rice Lake
Glistened like crystals in the sunlight
Disbelief at the way in which sunlight kissed the Serpent Mounds
Or at the way the lake sang praises to the Hiawatha Nation as it touched the shore
At the sound of silence on County Road 2 or
The way photos of the road & a Pontiac G6 look like works of art
Against nature’s green, blue and white canvas
It seemed like the sun would never set
So the blissful play of two gave way to stops, stares and photos on roadsides
Making us miss dinner time

Old world feel and picturesque windows give the impression of time travel, but
Whirlpool baths keep reality just a soak away
The 401 becomes my portal back to the present, but
I can’t forget the way Mother Earth called to me as I sailed over rice plants of old
Or when I stepped atop the 9 mounds of the Hiawatha Nation
If I could…
I’d have taken a canoe to the heart of the lake
Then, laid back and let my fingers graze the waters
Looking up at the night sky calling to the Great Spirit
Thanking Him for allowing me to be in this place
Thanking Him for bringing a Cherokee to the heart of
Anishnaabe/Chippewa/Mississauga/ Hiawatha lands.


© Sonjanita L. Moore, July 23, 2007