Lake Murray

Lake Murray
___________

Beaches and lakes always held a special
allure and mystique to me, as a child ; as
well, no doubt, most children . My earliest
recollection : Lake Murray, west of
Marietta, Oklahoma.

There was something about driving by
to find a spot to park , something
unseen and indefinable to my deceptive, un-
trustworthy eyes. That first view of a
wide expanse of sand .

Far off, echoing
music, usually rock from myriad radios,
all competing for what number one
would rule the airwaves and ears of
all , on a weekend outing to the winds
and water .The water……..

nebulous, shifting. A transmigration of white,
dark yellow sand to an unknown entity; at once
tranquil, and with potential hidden menace as
lifeguards, stationed high , kept watch.For a
helpless, struggling child, who had perhaps
placed too much confidence in his or her
newly acquired swimming abilities.

Yes. The sand and the water:
Sunlight winking off the eddies
and currents as if stars reflected
from a night sky , which was still
hours and hours away.

Speeding boats and other watercraft
beyond the buoys sent turbulent waves
to the shore . Cheap plastic rafts and
inner-tubes would brave the crests.

The usual result:
was spilling its young passenger
who none the less shouted and
screamed with sheer delight
and joy.

The gulls would sound there strident cry
from so very high up in a pristine, clear
blue sky . And accompanying the raucous
pulse of radios and a smattering of
boom boxes: an acrid, cloying smell of
charcoal, then the more pleasant aroma
of sizzling meats : hotdogs, hamburgers,
bratwurst.

When the long afternoon faded to dusk,
we would have a brief respite, a recess
from the sun.Cherry sno-cones were
my favorite.Or even grape, sometimes ,
or vanilla.

The smell of coconut tanning lotion
still vivid in our noses,
we ride back home,
tired and ‘sunspent.’

My breath flowers out, condenses
on the car window.A brief fog, then it
disappears, a ghostly fade , then
it reveals:

the first faint stars peeking out from
the sky,pulsing , awakening ; these just
further suns than our own, in all reality.
They seem to laugh softly,
whisper sweet lullabyes as
I drowse in the backseat.

And I see , once again the majestic
sunbeams dancing and twinkling,
through the shimmering heat waves,
on the tranquil, dark blue
ebbing and flowing waters.