The Pond

The Pond

We had no way to test the ice 
but to test the ice. So shedding 
caution and jackets on its banks, 
we set out over the unfathomed pond. 

We were near a dozen of us –
some splayed slantwise 
over the ice, groping 
for purchase or a solid stick, 

others rushing to race their elders 
to the willow-capped island 
at the pond’s center where last
season a family of geese nested. 

The Sun broke. The ice held. 

And the slick melt of cool film 
underfoot dissolved the risk
of the day’s tension into a dance 
of sore bums and swift laughter.