¶@@@@^*~^¨ ¨^~*^@@@@¶
¶##^^^*~^¨ ¨^~*^^^##¶
##^*~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~*^##
##¶#@^*~^¨ ¨^~*^@#¶##
##¶#@^*~^¨ ¨^~*^@#¶##
##¶#@^*~^¨ 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? ¨^~*^^@@##
##^~~~^¨¨¨ ¨¨¨^~~~^##
##@*^^¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨^^*@##
¶¶¶#@^*~^¨ ¨^~*^@#¶¶¶
¶@@@**~^^¨ ¨^^~**@@@¶
##^^^~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~^^^##