If love was the food and water of the soul,
I am Tantalus.
This unfamiliar feeling
Is just beyond my reach.
And I wonder
How exactly I offended these gods?

Goddess of love and kindness,
Abstain me
From focusing on the pleating waves,
Instead of the beauty of the sun,
And it’s constant comfort.

Instinctually, I paint a perfect image.
With blossoming water etching the high tides,
And the bright star in the reflection above.

But you can still have sun
In the absence of waves,
And the gods somehow forgive me of my foolishness.

I grasp for the water.
It doesn’t reach my neck,
But slips into the back of my throat.