The Pond – a poem by Laurie Didesch

The Pond

The lily pads sway in a casual way. The beavers 
build their burrows. We humans live in similar 
states of being. We are akin to plants and animals. 
For example, at times, like the toad or bird, we
can be heard crying out. The trees are said to have 
consciousness. They too know pain. And perhaps 

the universe also suffers to some degree. And yet,
everything holds together. The pond teams with 
life despite its murkiness. We humans also persist 
in the darkness. We are not left without comfort. 
The sun is ever present no matter the weather. And 
a force flows through all of creation; we thus know 

God’s love despite our fallen nature. And because 
we too are imbued with the Spirit, we can offer 
others hope, even in this divided world. The pond 
in time will cease to exist. Reeds and bracken will 
fill in its aspect. We also change form upon leaving 
this life; we will enter completely the eternal light. 

Laurie Didesch is the author of 50+ published poems. Her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies such as Ibbetson Street, Stone Poetry Quarterly, The Loch Raven Review, The Raven’s Perch, Bronze Bird Review, Adanna Journal, and more. She has won several awards for her work including most recently The Rockford Review’s Poetry Prize. She has also served on the editorial staff of various literary journals. For the past decade, Laurie has worked for a museum researching and writing art panels. She lives in Illinois with her husband and three cats. They look forward to moving to a farmette in the near future.