It Was Never There, Was It?

The reflection
across the pond
stretched over
the ripples
to reach me,

and with pickled lips
It kissed the tips
of my fingers
as I dipped them
in the water,
puckering
as It tasted
the sourness
of my sorrows.

Strong hands emerged
to cradle the plums
of my face, and I
sealed my eyes
as It whispered
every word I had
ever wanted to hear…

But as my vision
reappeared,
the water stilled,
and only trees
mirrored off
the surface.

I swore I saw It,
and I felt It,
and I had known
that It wanted me
and only me.

Why have I forgotten?

---

Alyssa Troy is an English teacher in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. from Rider University and has an M. Ed. from both Cabrini and Eastern University. Her poems are published or forthcoming in Blue Unicorn, Cool Beans Lit, In Parentheses, 300 Days of Sun, The Road Not Taken as well as other journals and magazines. She is the author of Transfiguration (2020).