Nets to Catch the Wind — Atavism

ATAVISM

I always was afraid of Somes's Pond: Not the little pond, by which the willow stands, Where laughing boys catch alewives in their hands In brown, bright shallows; but the one beyond.

There, when the frost makes all the birches burn Yellow as cow-lilies, and the pale sky shines Like a polished shell between black spruce and pines, Some strange thing tracks us, turning where we turn.

You'll say I dream it, being the true daughter Of those who in old times endured this dread.

Look!

Where the lily-stems are showing red A silent paddle moves below the water, A sliding shape has stirred them like a breath;

Tall plumes surmount a painted mask of death.