what the water taught me

1.     to be still: anything can ripple you.
          anything can send a tremor
through your bones, through muscle
                         and tissue. through blood. anything
they say can creep.

2.     to be quick: sometimes, it does not pay
                         to be still. sometimes
                                        he is pulsing
                                                 over you, and you cannot be
          quiet. you cannot play
                         dead. you have to be
quick; you have to push
                         his pulsing, even as he is happening
                                        to you, even as he forces his way
                         into every memory.

3.     to float: sometimes, you need
          to distill. to creep
          away from your ever-rushing body.
sometimes, you carry pebbles and drop
          them one by one, create
          your own drowning. sometimes, you have
                         to slip away into the night where no one can see
          the stars reflecting off the surface of your skin,
                         swallowing you whole.