Almost everyone has a favorite creek or lake for hiking, kayaking, or contemplation. There is something soothing, animating, inspiring about great bodies of water. From a certain angle, lakes and ponds seem to have personalities of their own; at the very least, each has character. In this collection of haiku, Spring Lake--as well as its denizens and visitors--comes alive for Robert Epstein as did Walden Pond for Henry D. Thoreau, to whom this book is dedicated. Around the Lake are young mothers planning their daughters' dance careers; dog walkers and joggers galore; even an old man whose life ends peacefully one December afternoon. In the right frame of mind, you too may find yourself at home on a park bench, gazing dreamily into a lake that the author of Walden called the earth's eye-a window through which the soul of the world, as well as one's own, may be revealed.