Love So Deep

Love so deep

 

Early morning walks, they say  

are good for your heart.

John’s, were pre-dawn strolls  

along a twisted coastal trail, 

rising 30-40 ft. above 

the rocky shore below. 

 

Stopping for a respite there 

he sat upon a rock 

overlooking a small inlet.

He was about to move on 

when the sun peeked into his eyes.

He waited

always fascinated

by the arrival of first light

but something else caught his eye.

Below him, among the rocks

wrapped in one of those 

Navy issue blankets

dark blue, now tinged in purple 

by the Red Sun

were a pair of bodies

sitting upon a large flat rock.

They were a couple gazing 

at morning’s delight.

He held her tight 

and she rested her head on his shoulder.

On the sand, apart from them, was a tent.

Perhaps, their shared domain for the night?

She whispered in his ear 

and then she stood up,  

naked.

She ran to the sea

and groped her way across the rocks.

 

John’s senses told him to leave 

but he was captivated by her beauty.

She carried a large pail toward the ocean

and from a high rock she dove into the sea.

She came out almost immediately

and returned to him carrying the full pail.

She faced him and dumped the chilling water 

over his head.

He fell backward. 

He, too, was naked.

She straddled him 

and they enjoyed making love and then, cuddling.

At least that’s what John saw.

and again, he felt he should move on 

when something strange happened.

She stood again and lifted a prosthesis, a leg

and it was then John saw that

one of his legs was gone at the thigh 

and the other at the knee.

She teased him with the leg

and then they embraced again

She then danced once more toward the sea

swinging and swaying

and waving the leg

with one hand 

while she carried the pail with the other. 

When she neared the rocks

she set down the pail and leg

turned and waved to him

then picked them and continued on

All the time, playfully flaunting her nudity 

and that leg.

She was at the high rock 

when it all went wrong.

There was this gangly awkward

pirouette she did

just before the fall and that sound….

so clear in the morning air

combined with a dull thud

and she was gone.

Slipped into the sea

and nothing.

 

He was screaming

hastening to attach the other leg

and stumbling, falling

crawling at times.

John was on his cell phone to 911.

He never reached the sea

before sirens were heard and 

John swears he saw her form

drifting outward from the shore.

Rescue teams arrived

cared for him, while a boat was launched 

and the searchers

retrieved her body .

John stayed to give his account of what happened

to police that found him waving frantically from on high.

When all was said and done

he continued his walk

crossing into the parking lot

where he saw their transportation

a beat-up old mini van 

and as he passed he saw the license plate

with its Purple Heart monogram.