I plunged into her troubled, roiling waters
her fear of blows
and brought her to the surface
between water and sky
At first she fought back,
spitting
speaking
I gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
in front of startled bystanders
She spoke again, apologized for speaking
She was shaken
Had I struck her? who had struck her once
Had I struck her? who had struck her once
and what if it were a woman
so hard she was still branded by it,
survivor of what long-ago disaster?
Golden words pour from her mouth
She pulls herself together
as I watch the transformation of her frightened face
of her defensive shoulder
of her wildly agitating hands
She sinks again I seize her by the hair
her green eyes shining, she speaks up full of life
It's her rebirth I'm attending, seeing beneath her anxious face
a countenance of light, redrawn
by speech
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