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The Island
- University of Pittsburgh Press
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58 The Island for Suzy Colt When algae and a mucky haze fevered the pond my friends bought an island, anchored it 500 yards out—a natural water filter the size of the dining table. Festooned with iris and wild strawberries, the floating scape’s roots grew down through substrate, fed on the water’s nutrients. Within a year, microbes rid the pond of phosphates; the water cleared and tadpoles buzzed the shore in troops. I loved the hydroponic country’s culture and swam close enough to touch its tiny gardens— reed beds and bluebells, cattails and migratory insects. Last summer we toweled off and, side by side, stared at the floating wetland nursery. I can’t remember who said what but I know we talked about the island, breathing into the water year after year. ...