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Transparency

You were opaque to me that first summer
All smooth surfaces, firm limbs
And eyes that glimmered like the evening sea
I moved along the edges seeing
My own face in twin mirrors
The angle of your approach

Observation drew me deeper
The long scar—white testament
To a fight you wouldn’t lose
An arm broken before resolve
The particular shape
Hours of effort gave your hands

I have gathered all these signs
The face of a child who had your name
A summer of wild-water grief
The whisper of work past midnight
The tiny lives you bend to save

Every year I fall deeper beneath your skin
Chasing your depths
And time itself recedes
A ripple, a rain on the surface
I am taken by your shining
Fathoms below sight