Summary

The speaker describes how he used to sit by the steep bank of a pond and gaze beyond his reflection into the depths. Light seemed to penetrate the water. As time passed, the carp living in the pond grew larger, their green and gold bodies moving among the pond weeds. Sometimes their silver bellies broke the surface of the water, especially in brisk autumn temperatures. But summer heat left them languid.

The speaker recalls hearing a warning that "a child might drown in such a pond" (8). Observing the pond brings the speaker back to his own childhood. However, extreme heat one summer affects the pond's ecosystem. Algae blooms spread on the surface and the water level drops until only a muddy basin remains. The trapped fish die. Birds apathetically pick the bones clean, and the speaker can no longer make out his reflection...