December’s Dream

By Jamie York

Kayaks are floating down the river today
reflecting their colors in the ripples they make
Red ones, green ones, blue ones float by
under a canopy of branches and a sliver of sky

Someone is resting on a sandbar upstream
bathing in gold from a single sunbeam
A turtle peeks out from a waterlogged branch
then disappears quickly as a boater goes by

Near the bank of the river a man reaches down
puts a Morel mushroom in a brown fishnet sack
He’s been dreaming for months of how it will taste
fried in onions and butter, and served with a steak