Day of Fog

A boat went by going full out
I couldn’t see it for a while, just heard the engine coming out of nowhere
Maybe it was a small plane lost in the fog, flying low along the shore
Desperate for a bare patch of earth to set down, taxi to quiet

That happened once. A yellow plane landed on the beach
It motored across the sand like a large plastic toy, the pilot waved to us
We waved back and our dogs barked and the sun was shining
Not like today, today I hear the sound and think it is a plane but it is a boat

The boat that comes into view is small with a big engine
Its bow is riding high and smacking the water , smack, smack, smack
No one in the boat is afraid of the fog, to them it is just air, wet and white
I hear them laughing like they are pulling a water skier through tricky turns

The cloud we are in lifts and then returns, thicker than before, this is the place where we are
I am afraid when the dogs run ahead, they could disappear forever, be lost to me
It is sorrowful thinking, loss imagined, ghost ships on the great lake, everyone not rescued
Beloved dogs swimming endlessly in the wake of a small boat going full out