L'étang de l'Or

Your hair is blonde it reflects

In green flecks, the grass

As the water does the sky.

At the end of the damp sand

And the water of dusty clouds

You talk to the ripples and the bubbles

Dropping shells in the lapping.

You talk the same language of expression

For this is the calm constancy of l'étang

Not the constant change of crashing waves.

Beneath a sunset that marks us

With a strong desire to remain

I see it reflected in the turquoise

of you eyes, a minute flame.

In the water, the sun's bridal dress 

Drapes an enormous fiery train

And proudly L'étang de l'Or 

Bares its burnished name.

L'étang de l'Or, probably best translated as 'The Golden Marsh', is a large marshy lake between Mauguio and the Mediterranean Sea. This week I walked there with my son and we played at the waters edge before watching the sunset.