summertime?

[Remember when we stayed in the cabin in the summertime?]

Elliot McClafferty

Remember when we stayed in the cabin in the summertime?

You slouched in your hand-crafted chair, rocking back and forth, even with the wind While I gazed out the window, taking in the tranquil light with an untroubled mind We watched them play in that transparent lake we held so dear, during those days When the sun fell, we became mesmerized by the calm waters that reflected the moonlight When you helped Jack hold his marshmallow by the fire And I snapped chocolate bars in half for Sarah and Thomas The scintillating embers whipping up and around the night air, reaching a temporary climax Only to fade to black as they descend from their flight It seemed as though those nights lasted the longest, didn’t they? And the stars...oh how could I forget the stars. They were unlike anything Unlike anything

Remember when we stayed in the cabin in the summertime?

The Montana sky; a blank canvas for our love The breeze dictated the swaying of the trees, towering above

us, one with us Almost as if they had a rhythm, almost as if they were conducting us We were it’s unwavering symphony, the instruments playing our parts That is until we broke that rhythm You broke that rhythm

Remember when we stayed in the cabin in the summertime?

When you began to talk less and less, retreating to the inners of your mind The lake became a haven for your thoughts Sucking them dry from your conscience, leaving almost nothing for you to say to me The clear sky now clouded, the stars ceasing to shine like they used to, fading with time While the trees no longer had their rhythm, twisting…mangling into claustrophobia What inside that mind of yours changed?

Remember when we stayed in the cabin in the summertime?

When you stopped playing with our children When you stopped being affectionate When you became lost all together Believe me, I tried my best to fix you But every time I tried, you retreated to the lake’s edge Dangling your bare feet, swaying hypnotically Only those troubled waters knew your feelings Not your own children Not even your own wife

Remember when we stayed in the cabin in the summertime?

When the sky finally opened up, the clouds giving way to the beating sun once more

The stars flickered with their blinding divine light again Even the trees reverted to their old selves, ending the suffocation that engulfed us You were finally yourself again, although I found it quite odd I had accepted you had changed, regressed to your former self. That I had done enough Until the day you withdrew into the lake for the first time in a long time That’s when I knew you needed help But you swam away. And you kept swimming, and swimming, and swimming

Remember when we stayed in the cabin in the summertime?

When I cried for help, when I was powerless When the children hadn’t even a clue what happened When I knew it was my fault, that I should have done more When I regretted everything about that place About that cabin in the summertime