Flathead Lake
The sky is azure
The mountains are umber
The water is pickle-juice green
The people in the boat with me are
canary gold and candy orange.
We skip across the water so fast it's
hard to breathe.
My dad is hurrying because he wants to
get back to the boat ramp before dark.
We are in the center of the vast lake
when the engine stops abruptly.
Out of gas.
The sky is teal
The mountains are indigo
The water is fuscia and sapphire and
arctic blue.
I admire the otherworldly colors as we
take turns on the single paddle rowing toward the shore.
My little sister fishes off the back of
the boat.
We make it to a beach house after and
hour of rowing.
I wait with the boat as my family
borrows a jug of gas.
The light and colors fade away as bats
swoop very close to my head.
The sky is sable
The mountains are coal-black
The water is obsidian
The light from the flashlight I hold to
show the way is harsh white.
Soon the only colors I can see are the
lights from the shore
Silver, crimson, and amber
All beckoning us to land
And safety.
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