Perimele by Maggie Sawkins

Perimele

She will not hear
the telling
of the tale as told

by Achelous to his friends
as they feast in the cave,
because his love has turned

her into an island. Mute,
alone, to be admired
from afar.

It will happen. One day
we too will be thrown
from a cliff.

But only in myths
will we know what it is
not to drown,

to be saved from the waves
by the gift of prayer,
hugged forever

by a River God as it pours
endlessly, like love,
into the sea.

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