"Baptized" by Emma Briseno

It feels like yesterday

when I dove.

Heart first

into the endless streams

that sculpt your turquoise irises.

Butterfly stroking my way through

I swam.

Farther,

deeper.

Into quicksand

masquerading

as Mediterranean waters.

With your glutinous sludge

up to my ears, you began to pull me

Farther,

deeper.

But, as you crept eagerly

towards my crescent reminders

of what it is to smile

I cleansed myself

of you.