Reve – USA
I stand on the muddy bank
stark still, excited, apprehensive
gazing at the dark
fall-chilled, cold river.
Colorful leaves sail along the surface,
tumble along the bottom.
stark still, excited, apprehensive
gazing at the dark
fall-chilled, cold river.
Colorful leaves sail along the surface,
tumble along the bottom.
This is my desire
my enchantment.
This water. This fluid.
I am lured, enticed.
I long to submerge myself,
to dive below the surface,
to get under the water,
silent, subtle, sensuous.
I step in
the chill wrapping its grip
around my feet, ankles, calves.
As I slide my body
under the surface and swim upstream,
I feel my heart pumping hard,
sending warm blood,
my inner river,
outward to my extremities.
At the top of the shallow pool,
I turn and release effort,
surrendering to the current,
merging with the flow,
slipping downstream.
The familiar touch
of water on skin,
suspends me, embraces me.
As we flow together,
the river and I,
everything condenses
into this moment of extreme presence,
this moving feast of sensuality.
I turn at the end of the rocky pool
and swim upstream
to pass again
before the camera’s lens.
I am a naked man,
exposed, vulnerable.
My head aches from the cold,
my body numb, yet vibrant,
my mind crystal clear.
For a third time
I swim upstream
to let myself go,
for a final drift down
skimming the rocky river bed.
And then,
once again
I stand on the muddy bank.
This time
dripping and shivering,
smiling and laughing,
intoxicated
with my living, breathing
fluid body.