Deep in Louisiana lies Lake Pontchartrain, round, still, and wide enough to obscure the other side. The New Orleans skyline shrinks as the train flies low on elevated track, right above the waters, so close I could touch the waves. The rain pours as it often does over the bayou's shallow sea.
Lake Pontchartrain is for string sextet (2 violins, 2 violas, 2 celli).