David Guterson is the author of two short story collections, The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind and Problems with People (Random House, 2014), and of five novels, including Ed King and Snow Falling on Cedars, for which he received the PEN/Faulkner Award. In addition he has written a poetry collection, Songs for a Summons, and two works of nonfiction, Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense, and Descent, a memoir. Guterson lives on Bainbridge Island in Puget Sound.

Photograph by Tom Collicott.

Pond of the False Prophet

by David Guterson

The Pond of the False Prophet reproved me again
Atop a headwall after the abandoned road
Of the head-razing hummingbird,
After snow retreat, minced bog, exposure, wild ginger.

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