When I married the first time,
we went body surfing.
I thought it was like
making love;
riding waves,
being in control.
When I first met you,
I thought about body surfing.
I felt it was like
being in love.
We rode the waves;
controlled each other.
We rolled and tumbled,
cavorted and rode on waves,
were lost in them as they crashed down upon us,
threw us into the sand at the bottom;
gritty, full of kelp,
broken dreamshells,
stinging jellyfish.
The strands of our needs, like kelp vines,
wound round and round our legs.
We could not flee;
threw ourselves upon yet another wave,
cried out that we wanted the ride.
Yes!
We needed each other.
The ride was all we needed:
to be you and me together,
high upon another wave,
one more time.
Your heart stopped beating.
The riptide tore you out of my arms.
Oh! My darling!
I ride the surf alone.
On the shallow waves,
your shadow ebbs away
in the still mirror.