Hot wet July air above
Cold deep ancient dark below
I break the surface
Sun-warmed limbs bursting into the chill
I move in the tension zone
The sun showers down
Yellow, blinding, smiling
Raining heat
I plunge my face into the water
Blue, green, silent, empty
The only sound is the splash
That I make
As I dance clumsily
Between two worlds
The aquamarine is pierced
By ropes of translucent light
Rays penetrate deep into the cold
Beyond where I can see
… who's down there, watching me?
The still full lake is burst apart
By my eager fingers
Which comb through desperately
Black bubbles forming at my fingertips
Until they're whisked upward by the world above
Steadily, my hands and arms
Scratch a rhythm into the lake
Which is muted and swallowed
As soon as my feet kick away
Eventually, I'm ejected back to the surface
Panting, spent
The golden sun welcomes me back
Above rusting emerald-leaved maples
A deep breath
The coldest waters below
Tug my ankle
Once
.. smirking
