Dreams for the Divine and Drowning- Poetry

Dreams for the Divine and Drowning

When I began to piece this book together, I realized that it told a story about what happens when you find yourself drowning in heartache. What dreams will your mind take you to? What chances did you regret not taking? Can you find the strength to swim? Can you grow gills and change into the person you were always meant to be? Can you forgive the love that held you below the surface?

I hope you find your strength.

I hope you too grow gills.

-K.D. Hagen

Part I

Dipping Toes

Just call me Babe,

Or baby or honey, sugar, darling,

Because the sound of my name

Even on the devotion of your lips

Even dripping

From your mouth everlasting

Sounds entirely too intimate

It penetrates.

I never expected to be draped

In gold

Just treated

As though I were made of it.

We walked

Amongst the ferns

The edges of our hands grazing

Sun kissing

The backs of our necks

Leaves dropped in soft slow

Strokes

Against the thickness of Autumn air

But oh,

I think it's me

Whose falling.

I inked my skin with 11:11

To force some positivity Beneath it.

Make a wish,

I thought when my eyes stopped there

Like a stilted clock on stilted skin

But the numbers proved

Too exposing

So, I replaced them

With flowers and stars

Eleven of each

Keeping my hope

A skin-deep secret.

I know

How my body feels and moves

I know how my voice

Growls and fades and

Strokes

Your back. You arch

Against the sound of me

I know the forcefulness

Of my gaze