ROWING
ON A LAKE
Most
of the verses here have four feet per line and each stanza follows
the form idea of the "Chinese Sonnet- "The
usual Chinese poem is four lines. The first line contains the initial
phrase; the second line, the continuation of that phrase; the third
line turns from this subject and begins a new one; and the fourth
line brings the first three lines together.
Quote from http://deoxy.org/koan/88
Though
there are no rhymes there are sound patterns of assonance and
alliteration in the lines. For example- Chill breezes ruffle
restful waters (alliteration the r sound is also in breezes)
or the assonance of "eye" vowel sounds in Brave white
high-riding over grey.
The lake in question was
Narrabeen Lake in Sydney many years ago.
ROWING ON A LAKE
Chill
breezes ruffle restful waters;
Thick
clouds dissemble a dome above.
As
we leave shore a lone gull cries,
Brave
white high-riding over grey.
Green
ripples push against the prow.
Seen-thin
in sinuous, far prayer for fish,
A
cormorant gives grace unto
The
comic bobbing of a buoy.
With
sudden multitudes of drops
Rain-mist
greys distances and patters
Wide
patternings of growing rings
Upon
the surface of the lake.
We
row toward land and sheltering trees
And
beach on dark-grained sand and trudge
Into
the centre of the centre island
And
gaze upon the black shape of a dredge.
So
seeing the heart of the lake invaded,
We
shrug and turn back to return
And
row across rain-bubbled waters
Back
to the streets from which we came;
Back
to the buildings and the buses,
Back
to the shops and highway noise.
Away,
away, we leave but carry
In
image living nature-
Sand,
earth and water;
Lake
and sky.
