Lake View

Tall masts swaying, as
The boats below gently move
On the rippling water;
Sail lines against the sky
Like church-window tracery,
Patterns, varied, and yet the same.
Large boats and small,
In many rainbow colours,
Furled sails hung like washing;
The shining lake waters
Moving with the swell
And gently lapping the shore.
The ducks do their fishing
Around the long brown jetties,
The boats huddled close
Like a child to it's mother,
Tethered fore and aft
To the safety of the shore.
Some escape their bonds
And skim across the dappled surface -
Tacking in the breeze;
Others merely drift along,
Like walkers on an afternoon stroll
Taking in the view.
Beyond the masts and sails
The mountains rise,
Tree-clad lower slopes give way
To fells of rust and green;
Crags rise to bleak outcrops
A thousand feet above.