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Take to the Open Water and Drown Your Fears
Prose Poetry
It’s the first touch of rain on a drought-ridden field. The coolness of it, the sleek feel of water sluicing across hungry roots, feels like a relief long overdue. You imagine yourself as that thirsty land, so full of potential yet strangled from what nature does not always want to give. The unyielding dryness gives way to something worth living, thriving, for.
It’s the first kiss after a long spell of disappointments. Him, him, him — no one ever quite right because you wanted someone who fit like a glove, the ease of a relationship so natural it felt like reconnecting with an old friend. You are too old for fairy tales, but what about longing for a kiss that felt just right? And then you would feel the tingle all the way down to the tips of your toes. Him — yes, the great maybe of it all turned into a certainty.
It’s the first taste of a summer peach, ripe for a bite or even perhaps a piece of a pie. The whole barrel may never be savored just as sweetly, but this one in your hand? It’s perfect, the juices ready to drip down and make your fingers sticky as the sun beams down to a whole crop. How miraculous that just one taste can do so much to ignite the senses.
It’s the first swim out in the lake, your arms wading through the calm waters. You dunk your head once, twice, each gasp of breaking the surface again a revelation. When you’re here, you can close your eyes and know what it’s like to be a kid again — so full of possibility, a bowl ready to be filled to the brim with whatever life chooses to dish out. Peace — you might know some shade of it here.
It’s the first blink of a new morning, a day ready to begin, a life ready to face. Go, now, and seek your fortune — whatever that means for this space in time.
