Convict Lake - John Vanderslice

At Convict Lake, we staked our tent

When the wind rose up, the willows bent

Their airborne spores were released to me

I opened my mouth and let them in

A small black X on the edge of the camp

I couldn’t wait to fall off the map

And so I took another tab

A lost bobcat found himself in the camp

I held him close, I fed him by hand

And then I took another tab

My friends came down, way too soon

I stayed high, with the silvery moon

I awoke in a hospital bed

Bound down like Gulliver tied up in thread

You can’t take back what you put in your head