Issue 3:2 | Poetry | George Ella Lyon

Dream Boat
George Ella Lyon

See, if we had this boat, Ella and me,
we could be out on Alligator Lake --
all right, all right, Lake Glen Marie --
day and night.  She could sleep
while I was shrimping, or we
could both be out there on the deck,
just leaning on one another,
listening to the bass jump.

Now this lake, it wouldn’t have bugs.
No sir.  And if we slept up into the day,
well, no one would know the difference.
No yard to mow, mail to fetch, bills
to pay.  Once every couple of weeks
we’d go for groceries and medicine
-- Ella’s got to have her pills --
but the rest of the time, well, we’d just
play scrabble, read, eat, and maybe
watch movies, look at picture albums
--stuff you never get around to
in your own house.  And if

Ella’s walk was a little unsteady
-- on account of her stroke, you know --
well, mine would be too, on that
rocking water.  Yes sir, we’d be sitting
pretty if we only had us a little boat.