By the time
You see it
It's too late
It takes everything you have
It takes everything you're near
It takes the tree you cling to
It takes you
And the rapture
The wave
All-covering
This is how I love
Say the word "breathless"
Try to imagine the actual stealing
The salt water in the lung
One by one
Alveoli
A violin,
Solo
Young women stand on the wrap porches of their houses on stilts
In a watery delta while somewhere it rains
Hands folded iconically
Eyes so big you could drown
All my love for you pools in my head
I am standing like that on the literal edge
Watching sodium greenly rise below me
And haven't I
Haven't I become the image you will recall
In brilliant color