Shades of Love

Deep Pool

They said the pool was bottomless,
we weren’t allowed to go there alone
or dive into it’s ink black dark.
Surrounded by rough rocks it had carved
a narrow way in from the river,
centuries ago I think, in no-one’s memory.
Rumours of strange drownings abounded,
of people swimming too near the centre
and being pulled under as if by a great force
never to be seen by man or on this earth again.
No reeds or weeds ruffled it’s surface,
no ripples crossed it’s ebony darkness,
a satin sheet stretched smoothly to the rocks
as if inviting disturbance, some rough distraction.

One day, I felt brave, I broke the rules.
I went alone, stripped off my clothes,
I clambered over the nearest rocks, dived in.
The water was ice cold, the splash becoming
white crystals rising, the surface broken.
I swam swiftly, keeping close to the edges,
never approaching the still, calm centre
to which all retuned when I climbed out.

Now I’ve plunged into your previously unruffled life,
causing ripples and distraction and disturbance.
venturing far too close to your still, calm centre
knowing, I will either be lost forever in your deeps
or washed up on the rocks watching you return
to your self imposed detachment, your isolation.

Shades of Love

Deep Pool

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