early morning … as day blinked its eyes I rowed the rickety little dory out - smooth rivulets behind me in the mirror surface slowly expired as I stopped in the middle wrapping the misty silence around me straining to remember the town as it had been … yes - it would be about here - the cemetery - they moved all the graves they could before the deluge but many remained for age or obscurity's sake … it was there SHE first kissed me - we went daily for the quietus and privacy to do our homework after school (and split the atom, of course) there, friendship became ... more like crocuses rushing to spring we bloomed under the brooding arms of a grumpy old elm branches twisted as if to keep our callow sins a secret … so precious, those moments - so ... distant … thus … a flood and three lifetimes later it all decayed in the merciless murk - an entire town given to the abyss for the thirst of a metropolis many miles away … not a thought given to the sacrifice - our dear town's tragedy no laurel ever laid upon these somber depths … the feelings I pondered there in stillness had no precedent - half my life and countless memories swimming far below in unforgiving darkness - homes, streets, schools, churches gardens of stone ... drowned for progress and population … and now, I committed a like crime … fishing my wallet from a corduroy pocket I removed HER photo from its honored sheath (where it had slept for years) placed it ever-so-tenderly on the reservoir's surface and watched it slowly lilt to the inky depths with my youth ... and her memory. ~ 3rd Place ~ in the "Strand Choice 10 Any Form Any Theme" Poetry Contest, Brian Strand, Judge & Sponsor. ~ 4th Place ~ in the "Free Verse Style Only" Poetry Contest, Emile Pinet, Judge & Sponsor.