Drowning the Lotus

by: Melissa Nucera at Etsy

(one shot Wednesday)

A night electric by the moon
she reaches beneath
the water, warm as a bath
and pulls down the lily’s stem
enough to drown
its glowing petals
beaming below the surface,
faded but brilliant

slip, farther down
slip, farther down

she pulls until it is a faded
white sun
there is a dark center
and she thinks of her mother,
her dark mouth open, airless
beneath the water
silent
she remembers the sound
of her voice
a radiant ache
the water breathes

she releases the lily and sits up
only to watch it slip
farther down, slip
away, as everything seemed to do

and it’s her face, then,
alone and pale

on the black surface

no center, no mouth

a dark stillness in the reeds