Water cleanses, doesn’t it?
(I thought) I hate water.
the thing with water is,
you should always check
it with intimate care.

What I took to be a shadow
turned out to be a fish.
This hovering presence
circled around me,
could dismember me.

It filled the space between me
and the shingle of sand
being destroyed by the tides.
(Where the footprints go out
But they don’t come back.)

Should I surrender my life
and disappear all at once
and become unremarkable
as this green sky, teaching
me to soften my heart?

At the hands of this shadowy
underneath thief, I picture
my body beyond the wounds,
pools of blood sprawled out
as the storm rolls through.

I remember my life
and I want to think
of the one life still to come.
Listening to the water
saying, come with me.
Everything has a voice,
be the fish.

Editors Note:  Dan is a new writer for Cape Fear Voices, and we welcome him to the team.