the lake was so smooth

The lake was so smooth

Suspiciously so,  

Disrupted by raindrops  

Suspiciously slow  

 

And so, our novice crew; mostly spring recruits

Went out on the lake, rowing with trust

Not noticing the billions

No, trillions of ripples as a storm was about to erupt

 

And just like that, came a torrential downpour

The rain lashed the boat's hull, the winds whipped our backs

 the waves rose above the saxboard

And filled the eight-seater with water: tinted black

 

The water almost froze on our soaked bodies

And the coxswain shivered like in tom and jerry

We rushed across the jagged waters

With our oars failing to bury

 

We docked the boat in a chaotic hurry  

And ran back to the boat bay

Then huddled around the heater like oysters on a rock

As the (somehow dry) girls team put our boats away

 

I walked home  

Alone

In a stolen team tee

And then sat by the oven, chilled to the bone