Poetic Demise

By Ripley Vernoy

With each stroke, I keep the pace, my paddling quick with rhythmic grace. Sweat clings to my skin and clothes, as water droplets, to my limbs impose.

The wind begins to swirl and moan, and sends a shiver through my bones. This misted swamp seems like a dream, or something from a horror scene.

Trees sway and bend with the wind's wild dance, as if urging me forward, giving me a chance. In the darkness, my lover's light shone bright, a comforting presence in the endless night.

I swished my head to ensure she remained, but found only emptiness in her place, unexplained. Still, a smile crept onto my face, as I sensed her spirit, full of grace.

For soon we would be reunited, forever to stay, together in love, come what may. But the waters below try to hold me back, as if trying to push my courage off track.

I falter for a moment, but regain my will, knowing I must continue, through water and chill. For she is both my future, my friend, and when it's time, my final end, but oh, what beauty and what grace, to end it with my lover's face, in a final embrace.