the water

Before the desert there was
the Water, sun-warmed and hazy,
humming with flying life above and
gathered to her boundaries.

Kept grass and children
grew up alongside,
fringes of wild algae also, and
weeping trees, leaning over so
deeply to kiss her surface…
It was worth it.

Shadowed and cool,
I remember how silky she
could be before I grew up and
earned the degrees between us.

I just want to say:
You have always been so deeply life-ridden,
unapologetically life-stricken, really.
I see this because I can.

And I remember it all.
The way you move as
storms move across you.
How we would glisten together
in still, sticky heat.
And when we didn’t have
enough,
we became small together
and survived.

And every time they came,
together we inhaled the winds
of change and they
changed us.

I just want to say:

It was worth it.

melissa suarez