The lake
in my dream
was not the healing one
I remember
Mutated catfish
clung to my flesh
like leeches
dingy cottages
blighted the banks
the beach
sparse, stale, contaminated
Catfish gleamed
in the healing lake
lithesome whiskers
supplely swayed
a hidden river
behind a blind of bulrushes
coursed through
wild country
The beach I knew
was cool and grainy
over and over
the ebb tide
rocked me
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