Thick green trees surround the powerful river,
It's current pulls me forward as small, smooth pebbles lap at my toes.
Somewhere in the background, children are shrieking with summertime bliss,
Making loud splashes into the crisp, cool water
From the wavering branch belonging to an ancient tree.
As I wade forward, warm brown mud oozes between my toes,
Unleashing a murky film around my perimeter.
The sun relentlessly bears down on me,
Calling out to my budding freckles beneath my olive skin.
Sweat droplets begin to form around my brow,
Sweetly trickling down my jaw and mixing with my river-wet body.
I close my eyes as the warmth encompasses my being,
It's as if I'm given a single bucket and told to fill it with all the wonders of the river-
I can't.
Then splash- it all comes flooding back to me,
Drowning me, filling my lungs with your presence.
I wasn't expecting you here,
Amidst the laughing children and the current.
It hurts too much to think of you, but it's impossible to let you go,
Not now.