http://www.lauratreacybentley.com/apps/photos/ Lake Effect It doesn't rain long in Garrett County./ Sleeting rains soon turn to steady snow./ Deer track cloven deep into mossy banks/ and fallow haying fields/ cave to winter white./ Black bear sleep/ a deeper kind of sleep/ in cloistered dens./ Tombstones disappear under drifts/ and death is forgotten for a time/ on High Street until the thaw./ Muddy Falls freezes over,/ its icy thunder silenced/ by howling crosswinds./ Winter trees try to hang on,/ slender trunks bending,/ branches scratching their initials/ into a moving sky./ @2006 Laura Treacy Bentley @2000 photo http://www.lauratreacybentley.com/apps/photos/photo?photoID=9598865 9598865 A boy sits with his sister/ who is learning to talk./ Their collie listens close by./ "Say sky," he commands,/ pointing up/ to a sea of sky./ "Say sea," he tells her,/ pointing out/ to a sky of sea./ She echoes each word/ and waves her small finger/ up and out/ at the spreading blue tide./ @2006 Laura Treacy Bentley @2000 photo http://www.lauratreacybentley.com/apps/photos/photo?photoID=9615389 9615389 They watch high school boys/ play touch football in good weather,/ running their Saturday quarterback/ hearts out./ They cheer from a fancy goalpost,/ an Arc de Triomphe far from Paris/ facing west./ Sometimes a huge flag floats/ in its tree-lined gateway,/ and the sunburned faces/ of all these/ other boys,/ who became names/ engraved in granite,/ clamber for the penthouse view./ These red badge boys/ who steal each breath,/ intercept each pass,/ wanting bruised ribs,/ aching muscles,/ and a bloody nose/ so bad they can taste it./ @2006 Laura Treacy Bentley @2000 photo http://www.lauratreacybentley.com/apps/photos/photo?photoID=9615390 9615390