Shadows & Dust [poetry]

The Futility of Making Love in the Underworld

We could wade into the waters of the River Lethe,

doubled like twins by the river's dark, fragmented

reflections, enfolded within one another while the

currents, thick and viscous with collected memories,

lap at the heat rising from our skin as the river drinks in

the salt we shed, remembering together the delicate

and difficult art of letting go without regret. There

and only there could you love me, knowing the moment

would be washed away, trapped forever within the rippling

liquid mirror, when you emerged blameless and empty.