the honey tide of summer
seeps from gashes in the hills
it spills down
over itself
thawing rocks
leaving them sticky
sheening

from the hills
you think you can see
a meniscus gape
at a question of its disequilibrium
puzzled in the heat
recurved or sagging

along its shore
you will start to feel the answer
the slightest vacuum
a hum
your ears may pop

around you
strewn trash
no pattern
no story
scrambled in diffusion
flotsam of memories
habits
addictions
once moving
turning
now static

step closer
step in
acknowledge the coolness of the water
fill yourself with pressure
hold it

wade through the membrane
draw it over you
feel your density
slip from gravity
relax
forget
dissolve

but do remember
fight
let your legs stab
rake at the light
admit your fear
panic
open your eyes
bare them to the dark cold
wider
freeze them watching
wait

the pressure you held
leaked to without
it demands reentry

you will gasp
inverse vomit
your frigid past
the ice water you drank
first thing after a nap
under hot sand

you will orbit
towards the drain
a pupil now dilated
too immense to care
gorging
on something far behind you
it cannot see you

you will reach the focus
and when you do
look up