aquarium 

our reflections stood in the shark tank.
we were divers wherever we went. 
you tried to climb into the water
so many times. i held your hand.
i preened your gills in the women's bathroom
where we were both lying. 
there was a someone pretending
to be a mermaid in the tall blue tank.
she waved at the crowd. you wept.
you asked me, "why aren't we gone?"
sometimes we use another person
as an escape. i did not mind being that
you for you. summer did not have
enough teeth to chew us & swallow.
my car died every time we tried to leave campus.
we gave in & took to walking the ugly creek.
ugly only because they had stolen
all the sharks & there was too much litter.
we harvested chip bags & twinkie wrappers
but they always returned. 
i don't remember how we got to
the aquarium but it felt urgent.
like if we didn't go our species would leave
without us. a tube of jelly fish worked
towards a prophecy. you & me relearned
how to swim. my name, like a murmuration
in the deep. here & then so gone.
i sometimes wonder what
would have happened to us if i would
have let you go. released your hand
& watched you lower yourself
into the shipwreck tank. would you
have grown back your gills?
would i have had no choice
but to follow you? scales & fins. breaths
coming as crystal balls. shoes by
the side of the creek. feet in the cool water.
did you want to love me?