Water, Water Everywhere
When he tells you he needs you like he needs air,
you’re tempted to fall back on telling him you need him
like water. But water is something you’ve always been
afraid of. Since the lake with the slippery bottom,
since the slick pondweed wrapped itself around your
ankles and you choked, sputtered, choked, flailed,
felt the entire lake pushing itself into your lungs.
Resist this temptation. You need him like the flowers
need the sun, and you know, more than anyone,
that where air is, water is not.
--Shaindel Beers
