by Bruce Bennett

“Lake Alice, a 26-acre local gem nestled in the crook of Minnesota’s eastern border, was drained to nearly
nothing after maintenance staff found that the valve meant to control its water levels was stuck.”
—The Washington Post

What’s going on? She isn’t here.
Alice is gone. Things disappear.
A pile of fish flop in her place.
Swiftly, almost without a trace,

What’s loved may vanish! We’re bereft!
We gaze. There’s almost nothing left.
This world, once filled with love and laughter,
is doomed. We see what’s coming after:

Destruction. Horrors. Drought. The works!
Just peer around. There Evil lurks.
Yet, don’t give up. Just take a break.
Hope whispers, Find another lake.

Don’t bow and yield your world to Malice.

Lakes will outlast this. Go ask Alice.