A Demon Clothed in Light

The hard won lawn and lily pond
Glowed over the effortless lake,
Waterfalls murmuring hundreds
Of hours over dark rocks below.

For a little while, no human
Voices were raised above the roar,
The thrushes, siskins, and others
Trilling and asserting themselves

Variously in heaped-up trees,
The hum of giant dragonflies.
There were children out there, of course,
Following teachers down shade trails,

No doubt all shrieking or laughing.
But not then, not to dullard ears
Bewitched by the calm of the short
Respite, the demon clothed in light.