twin cedar summers
Twin Cedars Lodge, Shuswap Lake, B.C., Ribelin Photo Studio, Kelowna, c. 1940s
Alberta girls
We never saw a pair of look-alike trees
at the Twin Cedars Resort on the Shuswap
but we were as twins ourselves
my brother and I
for two weeks each summer
never mind the hours
of second-hand smoke
bare thighs glued
to Pontiac vinyl
formica cracked
in rented cabins
the charred toast and
odd taste of local milk
the lake was a riot
of slides and water skiers
butterfly swimmers
incipient storms
temple-freezing depths
floating houses and
skinny Alberta girls
who drift by
on air mattresses
we plunged into the rippling
days unaware of the brief gift
of a rivalry left at home
dove into diving ping pong
sun burns and horseshoes
badminton scraped knees
hot dogs and black flies
but late around fires
flames snuffed by the dark
our bond cooled
the firmer we held hands
with the Alberta girls
faithless with their
tentative tongues
and shy waves goodbye
from the back
of a family station wagon
and not even the voices
calling us as one
nor mute confessions
before the drift to sleep
on lumpy mattresses
could undo the hold
of the Alberta girls
and the stirring in each of us
of a new self
as separate & real
as the summers
we would leave behind
vintage postcard: summer twilight on Shuswap Lake
And so passes another indelible summer. Thank you.
It’s the smell of warm earth and wet clothes over chairs. So beautiful I felt this.