Haunted Lake

Beneath the weeping willow,  
the water shimmers, shrouded in mist—  
moonlight spills silver secrets,  
whispers of those who wandered too far.  

Once a mirror of dreams,  
its depths hold shadows now;  
lost whispers flicker like fireflies,  
sighing through the cold embrace of night.  

Canoes glide silent as sorrow,  
echoes curdled in ripples that shimmer;   
a past unspooled upon its surface,   
ghostly hands reaching from below: “Remember.”   

The lovers’ laughter lingers still—    
two silhouettes carved against twilight’s breath.    
But time is a thief disguised as dawn;    
it stole their warmth and left only echoes.   

By the shores where children once played —     
now they stand still with vacant eyes:    
their songs swallowed by a darkness deepening—    
an eternal lullaby sung by restless waves.   

Evenings grow heavy with longing,     
as fishermen cast lines into memory's abyss—   
hoping to catch what cannot be held...     
each tug on their rods but a haunting silhouette.    

The trees lean closer at dusk,        
ears straining to hear voices lost to stars;      
hallowed remnants drifting on dampened air—     
“Come back,” they pleat within rustling leaves.      

Yet deep lies an ache—a murmured promise—   
in this haunted lake where stories dwell;       
deep enough for heartache to drown in silence…      
while mountains fold under weight of grief unseen.

So here we grieve amidst aged roots and stones,
for every life once woven into these waters;
our farewells carried away on currents blurred—
by time’s relentless hand pressing down like lead.

In this elegy steeped in tears and tales untold,
we honor all who fell beneath its glassy sheen:
dreamers dreaming no more beneath a mournful moon,
were they not ever just reflections chasing light?