Drought by Claire Hersom

The lake
thirsting in the sun

          rests
          waits

saves its energy
dreams of winter
          its mouth wide open
          begging for an unrelenting
          rain

Shadows under the surface
their dark secrets revealed

          frown
          worry

plants reach,
so close now to freedom

Granite,
with its map of creation
appears

its cataracts removed
          so generously
          by the sun's intense
          and constant heat

the relentless summer
masquerading as beauty.



Claire Hersom is a native Mainer who lives in Winthrop. Her work appears in several poetry journals including Yankee Magazine. Her book, Drowning: A Poetic Memoir, (Moon Pie Press) was supplemental text for UMS Rockland campus. In 2011, she received an Emerging Artist Grant in Literature from Boston’s St. Botolph Club Foundation. She serves on the Board of Directors for Maine Equal Justice Partners, and volunteers in local schools giving poetry ‘workshops’. She is one of three organizers for the Hallowell Maine poetry venue, the Bookey Readings at the Harlow Gallery. Her poem, "October Moon" was recently anthologized in the second edition of Wes McNair’s laureate project, More Poems from Maine: Take Heart.