Discovering Girls

We leaned against opposite railings and waited

for words to come as waiting for the subway

when she looked at me and smiled

and I trampled caution and dove headlong

into the pool of her gaze,

swimming playfully through lazy curls of auburn hair,

across the reef of her delicate features,

ignoring my burning lungs until I could not,

and I turned and thrust upward toward reality,

breaking the surface wild-eyed with no bearing

when she softly exclaimed, You're staring!