Adelaide B. Shaw

Four Ponds

There are four ponds within a mile of our house, each different. One, at the bottom of a sweeping lawn, mirrors the stately white colonial house. Four white Adirondack chairs stand together. They are always empty.

reflected willows
in this world of opposites
how do I choose?

Narrowing at one end, the water flows under the road, emerging on the other side, first as a stream, then growing into a pond edged with rough bushes and untamed nature.

ice sculptures
on the spillway
flowing lights

Further down the twisting road is a pond which in a dry summer shrinks to hot tub size. This year it has swollen to reach beyond several trees and a picnic table.

thunder storm
algae on the pond
regroup

The largest of the four, perhaps 250 yards long and 60 yards across at its widest point, attracts ducks and geese as they migrate. The banks, clear of trees and brush, are broad and green and mowed. The color of sky–blue, gray, black– the pond ripples in the wind and tosses back sequins in sunlight .

slate green pond
shadows above and below
the thin ice