flaming jewels

liquid diamond fire

the first thing i did when i got here was jump in a lake.
you know,
they say
   "go jump in the lake!"
   "take a long walk off a short pier!"
   "put an egg in your shoe and beat it!"

ever susceptible to suggestion, i jumped in a lake.

i felt i had to
because i had become so weak in the last few years
so susceptible to the cold
no defenses, anymore
the wind and the water could cut right through me

so, i went to a lake
one i had never been to before
and i stripped off everything
my derby hat
my heavy jacket that had lost all its buttons,
somehow, in the journey
my tightly laced boots
everything
came
off

i stood on the beach

the sand was frozen into little ripples
that made the walking strange
but i walked strong and straight to the water
which was hard
at the edges
a rim of grayish ice
trailing off into blue-black waves.

without hesitation, without a single thought
i walked into the water
stepped right on in
proud and foolish and smiling
stepped right on in
to the freezing lake

I walked until the water was up to my shoulders and then i
dove
in

and in moments, surfaced,
SCREAMING
with--
with--
i don't know what,
but i was
SCREAMING
as my body, slick and gleaming
broke from the blue-black waves

when i opened my eyes i saw a young man on the beach
earnest and concerned, waving to me
shouting,
"are you all right?"
his hair was blond, chin-length,
covered with a snug black stocking cap
his eyes were a pale, pale, blue
his lips, colorless
he looked safe and sturdy in his
navy blue coat,
in his fur-lined boots

he waved,
he called to me
"are you all right?"

and i walked out of the lake
i walked out
smiling
silent, no SCREAMING now
only the quiet rush of water
streaming off my body
slick like a seal
warm and protected now,
the water pouring off of me, white and shining

i'm covered in
liquid diamond fire
my nipples, lips and
fingertips blue with the cold but my body
blazing
with liquid diamond fire

I walked up to the earnest young man
in the navy blue coat
I walked up to the blond rescuer
caught in my liquid diamond fire gaze
and i took him
right then and there
i took him in my arms
(still streaming with liquid opalescence)
and i
drained
him
dry

strong and warm
cloaked in a cold that burns like fire
i am
stronger
and you have no idea
NO IDEA
what this cold, what this place, what the lakes
the lakes
the lakes
do to me.

you have no idea.

jewel@gleeful.com
a seraph production