The lake is dark. 

Starlight shines 

through moonlit fog, 

refracting on the water’s surface. 

Drifting through the cove, 

the cool water chills her skin—

the tops of her breasts rippling with goosebumps

as the breeze makes her acquaintance.

He emerges, a triton from the sea—

water droplets cascade 

down his marbled torso.

His siren call–pulling at her core. 

She wades, water rippling in her wake.

Moonlight illuminates him,

dancing on his features—

He gazes upon 

her eyes, 

cheeks, 

lips. 

Her heart 

racing but her breath slow—

a gentle calm settles. 

He closes the distance between them,

hears the slow exhale from her lungs,

the breath she held coming undone in the heat of his kiss. 

A moment once there, 

then gone too soon.

With a glance, 

He again sinks back 

into the depths of the black lake. 

She looks up, the night sky, 

dazzling and consuming. 

His face appears in her mind’s eye, 

and she can almost swear she 

finds him in the constellations. 

August 2024