..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ winds esker ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# ---------------------------------------- #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### there was this place that for two years ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### i couldn't go to. regardless how much ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### discussed with others, or pointed out ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## on maps, i could not think of it when ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# alone. i would often travel past the #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ fork, where a right turn would surely ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# take me there, but even then, something #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## kept me away. ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### when i finally got there, after some ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### heavy subconscious battle i must ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## assume, the place was surreal. an ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# esker, like a needle-thin rift out in #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ the lake, but ten meters high and ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# adorned in birch, willow, bracken, and #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## blueberries. ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### walking atop that spine, i came to ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### notice the view to either side. there ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## should be shores, of course, but i ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# didn't recognize them. first off, they #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ were much too close, as the lake should ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# stretch for a hundred meters more on #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## both sides. but now i felt i could ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### almost reach out and touch them. and ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### then, when i realized which shores they ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### were, i had to stop. ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# they were of the right lake. but this #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ lake is large, fractured, and ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# bipartite. like a pair of lungs carved #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## into the granite, and with no less than ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### five communities anchored at various ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### points. and so, studying these ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### impossibly close shores, i slowly ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## understood them as belonging many miles ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# away. #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# i examined the ridge, the treeline #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## above. was this what you saw opposite, ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### from those other shores? i couldn't ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### remember. ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## carrying forward, on the very tip of ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# the esker, i found the ruins of some #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ old building. there were overgrown ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# marble staircases, stone floors beneath #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## the moss, and strange slabs inserted ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### into the slope like dams against the ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### ground itself. ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## sitting there, i could see across the ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# narrowed lake my entire path to where i #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ sat: from the stairwell of my house, ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# through the old woods behind the tile #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## factory, the bridge over route ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### twenty three and then back under it, ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### through the fancy villas, over the ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### fields, and then that right turn at the ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## fork. ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ and then the stairs up on the ridge. ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# thinking back, this was probably it. #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## hidden in a grove, there were stairs ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### much like the ones i currently sat on, ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### old and worn down, that lead you up ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### onto the esker. the point of entry. had ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## i insted opted to walk the path at its ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# foot, i'm sure my experience would've #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ been different indeed. ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## ---------------------------------------- ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### on the lake, there were people in ####¤=/-~.
..~-/=¤### boats. i wondered, could they even see ###¤=/-~..
...~-/=¤## me? if i shouted, would they turn to ##¤=/-~...
....~-/=¤# stare right through me? #¤=/-~....
.....~-/=¤ ¤=/-~.....
....~-/=¤# #¤=/-~....
...~-/=¤## ##¤=/-~...
..~-/=¤### ###¤=/-~..
.~-/=¤#### ####¤=/-~.