She Swam in a Sunset of Endless Reeds

Your summer gown, 

Lain on still trees, of supple sound 

The airs cool breeze of humid heat, 

Carrying through, winding down. 

Peered, through leaves 

Counting features like seasons, 

Flesh, through trees 

Haunting my own vision. 

Her body, on the water 

Gliding, ever softer 

Skin so wet–glinting sunsets crest, 

I watched as she paddled onward. 

At this Lake, we fill its space 

Somewhere along her ridges 

Where solemn vows commiserate. 

Yearning to see, her seductive seas, 

Drowning slow, in endless reeds 

Abate mine eyes, and kept so still. 

I wondered how her ghost became so real. 

I rush to a place, alone, off-trail 

Nearing the water where memories swam 

I cannot face what I have seen 

I take to the wind, for what I felt at her gleam

On burying ground, I sit surrounded: 

By those we've lost, and those yet been found.

A mind that has never weathered, 

Holds no storm that is blowing over. 

Seeking shelter, finding comfort 

In a home of no owners. 

I falter, watching her bathe in water 

I ran, for a part of me, could never witness wonder...