POETRY--Water Meets Air

(Note: this was published in the February 2010 edition of Pagan Edge magazine: http://www.paganedge.com/)

Water Meets Air

“I am of the Water,” he said.
He raised his shiny head
above the water-line
and his nostrils flared open
to scent the busy wind.

“I am of the Air,” she said.
She swirled down on a draft
inclined a wing toward him
and inhaled his salty tang;
she hovered beyond his reach.

“I've been told to marry my kind,”
he explained. “I've been admonished
'Keep your thoughts here--in
our liquid realm--where you are
sustained, where you are nourished
and kept safe.' ”

He disdainfully shot a blast of water in the air.

She eyed his magnificent scales,
marveled at his streamlined shape
and ached to touch his sleek body.

She buzzed her wings in agreed displeasure.

“I've been told to marry my kind,”
she responded. “I've been scolded
'Keep your future in sight! Your
destiny lies in the sky, among the clouds
with your kin, where you are cherished,
where you are safe.' ”

She cawed her resentment to the heavens.

He drank her in with his eyes,
those lovely curves; graceful wings--
to lose himself in her embrace...

He slapped at a wave in frustration.

“I am the Water!” He proclaimed,
“But I burn who cannot burn;
I fly who cannot breathe the air for long,
I thirst to be joined with you.”

“I am the Air!” She responded in kind.
“But I soar aimlessly; my keen eyes
never settling on my desire;
my dreams for you floating helplessly away.”

She landed next to him on a seaweed-strewn rock.

Eye found eye; fin to wing they touched.
He wondered at the wind through her soft, strong feathers;
She admired the sturdy grace of him.
“When,” she whispered hoarsely, “can Air and Water dare to join?”
Her eyes sparkled with salty tears.

“In future times,” he answered tightly, “our kin shall finally see...
that Water and Air are but two poles on one continuum--
that the poles are not fixed, and the continuum but a circle.”

“In future times,” she echoed, picking up his thoughts,
“our kin shall know the truth-—that Air and Water are but
two elements among many, and there is strength and wisdom
in combining the best of all.”

In the darkening sky above,
lightening snaked across the orange clouds;
and the ancient rock stood in silent witness.