There were no willows but there was a pond
-- The Speaker (Line 1)

Importance: Schmidt opens the poem and introduces the setting by evoking absence. Willows frequently grow along or near bodies of water, including ponds, and they often appear in poems about waterscapes. The absence of willow trees (and their rich symbolism) in this poem foreshadows the loss of biodiversity that occurs after the drought.

A child might drown in such a pond, I heard. Watching there, for a time I was a child.
-- The Speaker (Lines 8-9)

Importance: The speaker's local community warns that the pond poses the risk of drowning, especially for children. It is unclear if the speaker began frequenting the pond as a child or if being there restores his childlike sense of wonder. Either way, the speaker heeds his community's warning but does not let it inhibit the solace and connection he experiences at the pond.

Green skin spread on the water, water-weed Broke...
-- The Speaker (Lines 11-15)