I should have known
when you came to me in water
{baptismal font}
   it was the end of an age

   when you came to me in water
   {spawning pool}
   for the first time,
      the last time

      you came to me in water
      {stinking of chlorine}
      to wash yourself of me
         (from me) for the last time

         you came to me in water
         for (re)birth and baptism

         disinfectant
         and delirium –

         plunging in
         and breaking through
         and pulling out
            and pouring

            all my love for you
            {wedding vows and unborn children}
            out into the cold, clean
               lifeless waters of the world

               searching for sanctuary
               that isn’t there

               mistaking reflections
               for the real thing

               exchanging ardor, alacrity
               for antiseptics

               distilled until imaginary,
               insolvent, intransigent

               backstroking to oblivion
               and languid, liquid asphyxiation.

               {I should have known it was the last time
               when you came to me in water.}

05/10/2010

Posted on 05/10/2010
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