quicksilver toes

I sat by the pool last night,

the few lit stars playing in the water;

quicksilver between my toes.

I splashed and laughed and stomped

like a child in a mudpuddle after a rainstorm,

but it left me no more dirty than I started…

and certainly no cleaner.

I could have lost myself there,

with those liquid socks

and noone watching but the dipper…

I could have slipped away into the dark

and never been seen again, quite happily.

but I stayed…

And after a time

the fire she raked down my back subsided

melted in with the warmth of the night.

The romance of the dark faded

and I went back inside.

But what would have happened

if I had given myself up to that animal urge?

What if I wandered off into the dark

and never came back?

Would I miss this world

with it’s cold brick-laden disdain?

Would I long for the weight

of responsibility and duty?

Or would I simply be sustained

and carried on by my quicksilver toes?