#@&&*,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,*&&@#
¶&*~¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨~*&¶
@*~~,¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨,~~*@
¶@@****~,¨ ¨,~****@@¶
@*~~~,¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨,~~~*@
¶@&***~,¨¨ 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? ¨,~**&@¶##
##¶@&**~,¨ ¨,~**&@¶##
¶&&*~¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨~*&&¶
##¶@&**~,¨ ¨,~**&@¶##
@&*,¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨,*&@
@@**~~¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨~~**@@