Arethusa

"But,' the river-god had claimed,
"you enticed me, spiralled through me,
sunlight banding your body with golden silk…'
What she remembered was a summer's day,
her sweat in silver beads above
the stream, then lost in it.
She trod that cool darkness until
the god's embrace drew her down, and fright
plucked her from it into the noon's full heat —
breathless, melting to water as she fled
and he took human form, pursuing her.
She was taken by spirits down through
open earth, then brought to this new place
where, a sacred pool, she bathed
and mirrored those who came.
All unlived longings sank like shadows
through her, and rose fulfilled.
She was still, with the power
of a waterfall tumbling.