Kiss
I imagine tossing a flat stone into the vast lake
hoping it will skip many times over the afternoon water
I want to believe in the dream I had last night –
it concerned a kiss I had kissed a friend on the street
I thought I could see the stone in the water trying to keep its face
above the surface – afraid of drowning – as happens when you are thrown
unexpectedly into a lake or the child stumbles into the nearby pond
but it was the kiss I kept remembering the kiss that urged me on
I imagined it like the stone – flying over the waters of the lake
touching the air then passing down into the water up again for air
down into the water repeating this until the lake became
exhausted and still
the kiss – I thought – might continue on for a long very long time
traveling through space over the oceans until one day it stops
right in front of you at your eye level very still
waiting – waiting for you awkward and shy
waiting to go to you up into air down again
up again
Revised version. First published in Grey Sparrow Journal, 2011