Skipped Stone

by John Thompson and Garry Gay

First published in Hammerhorn Lake (Foster City, California: Press Here, 1995) by Garry Gay, John Thompson, and Michael Dylan Welch. Written 3–4 September 1994 on a camping trip at Hammerhorn Lake, California.

seeing sunshine

as if for the first time

under the green water John

bubbles rise

from the deep algae Garry

skipped stone—

its rings fading

into each other John

sliding

off a lily pad

water snake Garry

a wolfish dog paddles

beside the hunter’s canoe John

a blue dragonfly

hovers

in a shaft of light Garry