The Drowned Lover

All love and beauty must wither and die. It is not the tale that we teach the young, but the bitter truth we come to know in time.

When first I glimpsed her, I was overwhelmed with longing. I experienced the full force of a shaft from Cubid's quiver driven deep into my breast. Though I wished to reach out to her, to know her and be known by her in return, something held me back. Instead, I watched her and I waited. Too afraid to reveal my presence, for fear that she would not desire me, as I desired her.

Every day I followed her down to the river; amidst the weeping willows and the wild roses. She hummed her Siren's song, and for a time I lived as if in a dream; her silent watcher.

One day, a man came to her there. He yelled at her in blurred speech that I could not understand. I saw him strike her with his fist, and watched as she fell into the water's cold embrace.

I ran to her aid. I lashed out at the man. But as I did so, he suddenly became an apparition, and disappeared. I lost my footing, went over the bank and into the water, where, for the briefest instant, I saw my lover's smiling face.

I became entangled, something pulled me down into the water's unforgiving depths. It was not 'my life' that flashed before my eyes, but the sight of her dancing beside the river. Her sweet music filled my ears; as my heart slowed and finally stopped.

Now I am with her always: The Siren's Lover