the shallows

was it you 
who told me that no
one owns the rivers?
flow shallow with
me-- it's winter
& time to be chapped--
time to crinkle
with frost &
watch leg hairs
contort on the banks--
will you walk in
ankle deep with me?
the shallow water
un-cavernous &
lonely-- she takes
to coaxing sharks
from the the depths--
calls them each by name--
a razor-toothed name--
weaving between
stones--
was it you who told me
that sharks 
sometimes wonder into
the rivers?
was it me who
didn't believe you?
keep walking
we have nothing
to be afraid of-- they
know they are lost--
biting pebbles 
& thrashing side to side--
jaws ancient &
aching of museums--
they contemplate
home & how life 
was once fathomless--
how once they could not
decide which direction
to swim--
the river holds them--
caresses their
smooth smooth 
cartilage-born bodies--
the water is a greedy 
place by december--
shallower & shallower--
she wants to feel full
again--
she grabs handfuls of
tree root & dips
her icy tongue into
the sand to sing
to the ocean creatures--
jelly fish & wrecked
ships & mermaids--
skin pale--a cracking
fresco--
they all find 
narrow lives-- bolting--
smacking down
their own veins &
there i am too between
a great white shark
& a humpback whale
trickling together
down the stream a block
from my parent's house--
our ankles washed away 
in the commotion--
we held tightly to
our fins & the eyes
of the shark
watched me as i tried
to peel open
my neck to find gills--
his eyes--
stagnant & back--
the bottomless black
ocean he held in them--
he tried to swim
downwards--
into the pupil--
iris splashing around us
like a halo
& i remembered 
the butterfly stroke--
following him down 
kicking kicking
kicking
the river felt our
escape with
all the sorrow of
a waterfall--
begged for
us to come back--
offered us bends
& a breath on
the gritty banks 
near the swing sets
but we didn't look back
i asked the shark 
if he was going to eat me
now that we were
obscure & feeling
our skin/bones
come back-- 
electric & esoteric  
the depths
conceived me &
i breathed water--
he swam faster & faster 
toward darkness--
i stopped
to watch him descend--
to the other side
of his own eye--
i resurface & 
get take back my
ankles-- rest 
on the cold & cracked
shore of the river--
lips blue &
shallow--
river still
there beckoning me--
singing
oh how
i want you
to own me