Self-Portrait with Quarry
       

In a nightmare once, I saw you
      coming down the attic ladder,
            your head enormous, encased

in plaster, a Mardi Gras
      exaggeration. You said it meant
            departure.

I kissed your naked shoulder.
      I was warned.
            We were locked in.

Swimming
      in a quarry once,
            halfway to the raft

I asked how deep it was.
      Someone told me
            bottomless. I shivered.

Stroked harder. Even
      if I'd known before,
            I'd have slipped into the water.

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Copyright © 2013 Elisabeth Murawski All rights reserved
from 32 Poems
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission