water strider

water strider

i was a boy
i had a net
to catch butterflies and other bugs
and i wandered into the swamp
down by the creek
and I stood on the moss and shoal
and mushrooms
looking at these water striders
skating over the surface tension
of the water like
it was always their way
refracting the light in little impressions
underneath their feet

and I leaned over too far and I fell
into the creek
for a second i was panicked in the water
shallow and dirty
and I stood up alarmed
and agitated
and I took my little net and held it up
in the air
when a child wants attention, you hold your arm up
as to be called on
as to reach an adult’s eyeline
Standing sopping wet in that creek,
I stood and raised the buttefly net
and asked for an adult to come make it right
and I knew it wouldn’t happen
I was the only person here
And after a second of embarassment
I raised my leg and stepped onto that loamy shore
And the water striders rode the ripples
as I arose a new person
without that safety of childhood
muddy and wet legs
striding into a new world

I had to solve my own problems
and the butterfly net leaked prismatic
bubbles down into the soft soil
Water striders dashed over sacred water
and a baptism was realized.

I haven’t been afraid since