Cemetery Lake

Posted on by jonicaggiano

Ripples roll over me tonight with an adrift half moon
Lurking with grey shadows wounding dreams too soon
Bulky the arm, of the once firm oak, crying as it floats
Lost laughter of children fishing in old wooden boats
Water moccasins slither, stirring lifeless toads, and weave
In and out of silt made of chemicals, and fetid brown leaves
Insects, rotting fish, and poison clams, a graveyard make
Like a hawk to new hatchlings, death won this fine lake

Written by Joni Caggiano 06/22/20

Photo by Korhan Erdol on Pexels.com

36 thoughts on “Cemetery Lake”

  1. Wonderfully morbid poem. Perfect photo to go with it. If you like morbid things it reminds me of the French movie “Man Bites Dog”, a mockumentary about a hit man who throws the bodies in quarry that’s filled with water. It also brings to mind “The Draining Lake: An Inspector Erlendur Novel” by Arnaldur Indridason.

    Reply

    1. Oh both sound great. We love foreign films and documentaries. “Man Bites Dog” sounds interesting. I get a bit worked up about our beautiful world and the lack of care that we give it. We do our best to protect our planet. I love our environment and I know you do to from your gorgeous photography.

      Hope you two have an amazing day. Also I was wondering if your owls come back every year? Sending love and hugs to you two. 🌺🌸❤️ Joni

      Reply

      1. “Man Bites Dog” is not a real documentary and it’s quite disturbing. Just to let you know. The whole Inspector Erlendur series of books are wonderful. It’s best to read them in series starting with “Jar City”.

      2. Well we are watching Hannibal Lecter right now, so what do you think? haha Now you have me interested Tim. Thanks for the heads up about the Inspector Erlendur series my friend. I hope you two are not having to worry about your safety in terms of where you both are, do you feel safe from the virus when you go into town if you both wear masks and are very careful? I sure hope so Tim. You two take great care of one another. I live in a partial vacuum on purpose as too much exposure to the news, in my humble opinion, is not a good thing. (at least not for me) Love and hugs to you both my friend.

      3. We only wear masks if we go into stores. It’s so wide open and so few people out here it’s silly to wear a mask outside or in the car. I’m not a worrier. It’s not worth the time to worry. You just move on and be carful.

      4. I get it Tim. My husband and I only wear mask when we go grocery shopping. Sounds familiar.
        I worry about things too much but I continue to get better at that. Have an amazing evening you two. Love 💕 Joni

  2. This piece is marvellous. You have described the “death of the lake” so wonderfully.
    “Lurking with grey shadows wounding
    dreams too soon.”
    This was so amazing! I totally love this❤😍

    Have a wonderful and blessed week Joni. Sending you lots of love and hugs❤💕💕
    Ishita💝

    Reply

    1. Thank you for all your generous words Ishita. We all just need to take care of our beautiful world.

      I really appreciate your thoughtfulness Ishita. Have an amazing day my friend. Sending you love, hugs and blessings to you and all your loved ones. 🌺🌸🤗❤️Joni

      Reply

    1. Thank you Stuart. I appreciate your reading and commenting. Yes environmental issues lay heavy on my mind. We have been blessed with such beauty and people just don’t take care of it.

      You and your honey take care. You may have already had your walk. If so can’t wait to see your photography. Love and hugs to you both ❤️💕🤗 Joni

      Reply

      1. Just checking my emails before I prepare the post for today, Joni. You and I will continue to share our love of the natural world in the hope the message gets through that our world is worthpreserving, eh?

      2. You bet. I sure hope and pray the world wakes up. You certainly show us the beauty with your magnificent photography. Love and hugs 🤗 Joni

    1. Thank you Brad I am delighted you enjoyed it. “Exceptional and haunting” kind words.

      I hope your world is getting better. Things still seem so crazy here. I hope you and all your loved ones are well.

      Sending you blessings, lots of love and hugs. 🌺🌸❤️Jonikins

      Reply

  6. Great descriptors, paints a perfect picture. We have such a lake here, was once full of life and pink, flamingos. Now dull and lifeless.

    Reply

    1. Oh, so sad. That just breaks my heart, seriously. How gorgeous the flamingos are and what a treat to see them in the wild. So tragic that we just can’t stop killing our environment to have bigger, better, and cheaper. We just have learned to do with a lot less, buy recycled clothing, compost, and recycle everything else. We have one large trash can full of trash per year. We have rainbarrels, and use our compost for fertilizer which is good soil. We are blessed for every single thing we have too and we do our best to never take it for granted either. Thank you kevin, I really appreciate your comment, and again, I am so sorry about your beautiful lake. Love and hugs to you and all your loved ones my friend. Joni

      Reply

      1. They are gorgeous. It was sad losing them due to pollution. Even more sad that we keep destroying our environment for short term gains as you’ve put it with the many options of safe disposal, re-use and recycling.
        Welcome, and thanks for the love and hugs. Sending them back to you and your loved ones.

  7. Great poem honeybun. Yes, it’s decay and pain, but life is not only a bunch of roses.
    Splendid metaphors: death wins over a lake, lost laughter of children fishing in old wooden boats; hawk to new hatchlings. It looks like death is there to stay.
    I truly love this piece. It reminds me of some of the French symbolists – whose work I profoundly admire -who were obsessed with death. Bravo.
    Joni, your work is great. You bring a lot of meaning to life.
    Sending you love
    G (button)

    Reply

    1. Thank you beautiful Button, I am so grateful you “loved this piece” my dear friend. “It reminds me of some to the French symbolists – whose work I profoundly admire – who were obsessed with death. Bravo” Your words are very flattering Button, you give me too much credit my friend. I will take it though and be grateful for it. My intent was to write a powerful environmental piece but I used some other metaphors that takes the whole piece some where else. I guess that is how I feel about the slow death of so many creatures on our earth. So to provoke this response in you I have truly obtained even more than I had dared hoped. Thank you so much my dear friend your words are like honey to the honeycomb, they fill me up. Love to you, Honeybun.

      Reply

      1. My pleasure sweetheart. I am giving you the credit that you deserve. And you deserve a lot.
        “My intent was to write a powerful environmental piece but I used some other metaphors that takes the whole piece some where else.” Definitely it could be conceived as a powerful environmental piece.
        One way or another it’s a gorgeous piece. Your talent shines. Thank you for sharing.
        Love you honeybun.
        xoxo

      2. Thank you so much for your sweet words beautiful Button. I think one of the great things about poetry is that it has different meanings to everyone who reads a piece. Thank you always so much for you loving support.
        Have a blessed and wonderfully creative day dear friend. Love you ❤️💕 honeybun

      3. My pleasure honeybun.
        “I think one of the great things about poetry is that it has different meanings to everyone who reads a piece.” That’s so true sweetheart.
        May you have a blessed evening.
        Much love
        G (Button)

      4. You too Button, sleep well and always with the protective hand of God. Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite. Yours, Honeybun 🌺🌸❤️

    1. Thank you my dearest friend. I get fired up some times thinking about our environment and its precious resource, water.
      So many places that are so beautiful and that call to us won’t be there if we don’t stop our destruction of our blessings, this earth offers. I am sure you likely don’t drink the water in Wilmington when you go either.
      Now we hesitate to drink the water there at all, GenX has done its damage for the 60,000 residents, not to mention Smithfield’s run off. At least they are starting to produce bio-fuel with their pig manure. That is a start at least. Thank you for your sweet comment. Hope am sending you buckets and buckets of flowers and love, held together by hugs. Love you 💖❤️💕Joni

      Reply

  9. A lovely composition Joni. Mortality and loneliness are so cleverly enjoined! The image is a perfect summation! First off the word cemetery kind of nudged me back. After all, it was very inviting. I Hope you are enjoying your coffee today. Cheers! 💕☕️☕️

    Reply

    1. Absolutely my friend. Thank you for the very kind and gracious compliment. I hope all is well with you my friend. I hope you are being very safe. It is nice to hear from you. Please do be safe. Thank you for this sweet message my friend. Sending love and hugs to all your loved ones. ❤️💕💖🤗 Joni ☕️☕️☕️

      Reply

Leave a Reply