Whimseys Poems

Essence Lost

The writer said,
Never change that water 
I want to keep it forever,
as if the pool changed its water's molecular strucure
to capture the essence of the movie star's
naked and glorious beauty,
as she swam like a mythical siren,
sending out notes of allurement.

A romantic story, if true,
but in the end the pool was drained
and the water was changed 
after the death of the writer;
his heirs not sympathetic 
to the whimseys 
of a mercurial mind.

During languid summer days
I swim in the river and wonder
if its water's molecular structure is changed 
to capture the essence of my presence,
and carry it lovingly 
     to the west 
          to its mouth
                to the sea.

Does the sea rejoice,
gifting the essence to the clouds 
until they are full to bursting,
then send it falling back to earth 
as rain on the mountains and forests and fields;
to fall on the heart of the city where I live
in a house with a roof that shelters me 
from the essence of the rain
     from the sea
          from the river
               from me?