Raymond, ME 04071

It's a small enough town
with the run down convenience store
and quaint bed and breakfast on the lake
but you turn down a road to the right
and start to head out of town
you pass fields and farms
and as you descend a hill you didn't even know you were on
a white sign standing next to a totem pole
(which is obviously the creation of children)
announces that you have finally arrived

you turn left
at an unbearable 5 miles per hour
descend down the steep, dirt road
on the right are the stables
to the left, the riding rings
then on the left is an impressive soccer field
which was the perfect place to lie on your back and gaze
at the stars faintly dotting the early night sky
the right, on high, a basketball court
and on low an old volleyball court
cracked and broken from lack of use
if you look through the trees at the right moment
you can see the top of the climbing wall
poking out from the woods behind the tennis courts on the left
it was challenging and daunting until you reach the top
and when you do you want to scream for joy
(until you have to turn your back and fall into the open air
in order to come back down)
then comes pottery, the photo shack and arts and crafts on the right
and the Rec Hall and lawn on your other side
that served as meeting grounds and the center of everything
the driveway ends in a pool of a roundabout with a massive tree in the middle
(I suppose they couldn't bring themselves
to tear it down when creating
parking spaces for the vans)

from here you can go several places
on the left is the infirmary,
set back from the bridge over the small creek
that served as the dividing line during capture the flag
and a path that wanders in circles with
girls' cabins dotting the landscape in twos and threes
there's a silk-screening shack, archery range and softball field
tucked in the back corner

on the right is the dining hall, flag pole and the boys' cabins
set in a neat semi circle
in alphabetical order of their names
(one for each letter of the alphabet,
A-M for boys’ cabins and N-Z for girls’ cabins)

in front of you is the office
and the steepest portion of the hill
which runs down, deep into the trees
and just as you start to wonder where you're going
Crescent Lake leaps out at you
the overwhelming deep cerulean
lined by dark forests
whose treetops kiss the sky
splattered with clouds
boats dot the lake, moving
left to right
right to left
and in circles

three docks float on this beach
the black T near the tethered sailboats
where the kitchen and barn staff would sunbathe in the afternoons
then, in the middle, the white H dock
the inner H is shallow
and almost muddy in spots
and you can't reach the bottom in the outer H
unless you dive down, in search of mussels
and off to the side, almost obscured by the curve of the shoreline
is a straight white dock to which is tethered the fishing, waterskiing and tubing boats.

and as the day winds down, the boats become quiet
the loons float serenely on Crescent's surface
the fire burns with the welcome scent of pine and birch
and everything is bathed in golden citrus hues
as the darkening sky with its stars chases the sun away.