where the sea meets the sky

your favourite thing

was to swim in the rain

and when the summer storm came

pendulous and heavy

greening the grey-green leaves

against the crumpled sky

you coaxed me

unwilling and suspicious

from my chosen garrison

we padded to the laundry

wriggled into swimming costumes

yours skirted, ruffled

topaz-hued and of the earth

set off with bathing cap

that day, the white rubber one

covered in blossoms

like a mermaid's

we crunched past bottlebrush

along the path and down

my small hand lost in yours

crack as clouds collided

a hesitation, tremulousness

felt in the stomach

into the water you went

and into the water i went

the great green sea flattened

troubled by a thousand drops

the rain stung my forehead

pitted my shoulders

thrummed on my skull

beating ceaseless rhythm

demanding to be heard

the water felt warm, a refuge

i sank until my nose submerged

and my eyes filled with

the whole of the sea

and i could see symmetry

in displacement

in pairs of opposites

the strange symmetry of droplets.