Monday, November 24, 2014

Cattail Island



Frothy white caps chomp across the lake, nervous, tempest-tossed.  Raw. Determined.  We notice something bobbing half a mile away, headed toward us.

“Well, it’s not a boat.  A person would be crazy to be out there today. Probably a chunk of cattails from the opposite shore,” I remark.

Sure enough, Cattail Island steadily advances.  Finally it rams into our seawall with a dramatic crash, its spindly, dry grasses hurling wildly. I can imagine them screaming - not in agony or protest as much as celebration of purpose and fate.


The waves aren’t finished, however.  They batter and shove, forcing the clump along the shore - erratic, stumbling, drunk with adventure. I wonder at its lot here in foreign territory where smooth, manicured shorelines lack the cubbies of the wild shore.  I stare down this alien that has been torn from its familiar home and carried beyond, fluffy seed heads now stripped naked, legacy sprayed abroad.  The clump nods in return, laughing now, testifying to the freedom that comes with surrender to destiny.




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