a muddy eddy

clay river banks

an earthy aroma

wafts in the warm air

digging my fingers

into silty soil

resting my head

on a rotting log

as the stream flows

over my worn feet

i'm piling mud

plastering it over

mossy boulders and

lichen trunks

trying to bury

the memories of waves

dunking my head

into the cloudy stream

the taste of salt

lurking in my mind

submerging my body

deep into the murk

a cemetery of

rotting twigs leaves

trying to rinse

the briny scent

of these ocean memories

of you and me

but underneath

in muddy depths

amongst the carcasses

of decayed branches

a tangle of lily roots

glimmering life

in a moldering eddy

so i rise

up to the glimmering

sun dance of

this peaceful eddy

hoping to see

blossoming water lilies

life blooming in the shadows

but it was too late

the salt seeped out

soft pink lavender purple

water lilies wilting

floating on the surface

before sinking under

joining the graveyard

of decayed willow leaves

and time stood still

stirring of life desolate

as my saline streams

of unforgiven memories

poisoned this haven

where the water lilies blossom.