By the Still Water's Edge

I gazed down from the water's side To see a silver gleam And standing staring looked and tried To see beyond the stream. The clearest water sparkling, pure, Below me stilled and calm; Its cooling, soothing, fooling lure, Seductive in its charm. I saw a young man peering on With eyes that conquered all. But in a moment, he was gone ~ Uncanny, I recall. Beneath the surface he was there, A soul of twenty-four, Then vanished in the swell somewhere And left me by the shore. Again, he came when it was staid And braved another glance. Yet, had I his acquaintance made Some long by-go, by chance? He spoke and told me in a rhyme He yearned that he was me; Though musing swept me back in time ~ I longed that I was he.