(Granite Bay State Park, Folsom Lake, California)

Walking on half-sand, half-rocks
usually underwater, I do not expect

to find—peering at rock bits of
crimson-ribboned crystals

and mica-flecked granite—
a small elephant on its side,

pressed into fine grit, its
trunk curling high. A mini

archaeological find, its intact
gray form compels me to

gently dig it out, brush it off,
wondering how it got here—

if it fell from a child’s hand,
part of a treasured collection—

imagining it both wet and dry
as the lake rises and recedes,

as it does every season, covering
and uncovering what has been lost,

what is waiting to be found.