Long Lake

Long Lake

Paul J. Willis

When I awoke in the night
and slipped out of the tent,
I saw a beam of light below.

Someone was out late
or up early, a very strong
flashlight in hand.

Then I looked closer:
the light came from the dark,
still waters of the lake.

Above the lake,
the black silhouette of a mountain.

Above the mountain,
the morning star.

In the lake, the light
of the star, shining upward.

—John Muir Wilderness

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Paul J. Willis
Poet 

Paul is newly-retired from his position as Professor of English at Westmount College in Santa Barbara, California. His newest poetry collection is Somewhere To Follow (2021, Slant).

Photography by Eberhard Grossgasteiger