Dancing with Fire

Every ten years
On a light lake
In a land-locked country

Water dances with Fire

She hikes up her dress
And gingerly steps
Onto the surface of the water

Fire waits for her
In the middle of the lake
Where he takes her hand
And plunges her into his flame

She feels herself heated
Warmed by his touch
And they dance down into the depths
Of the lake that has no end

They call the lake Pueblo Norova
And this is where lovers have drowned
And God has explained death to man

This is the lake where Water first learned to spread herself out
And cool the parched mouth
Of a dry piece of land

And here is where she met Fire

His bare body exposed to her
Light coming out of him
Like it was being born for the first time

And at their introduction
She could only slide her fingertips
Down the front side of him

Because any more than that
And she would have evaporated completely

But as she grew older
And learned what it was to be elemental
And necessary
And life-giving

She no longer felt fear towards Fire
Knowing she could put him out
If she so desired

But so as to respect their separate natures
She kept her distance
And only every ten years or so
Would allow herself
The pleasure
Of meeting him at the lake
Where they could glide up into the Air
And down into the Earth
And laugh at how angry they were making
Their two colleagues

Water lets Fire take off her dress
Simply by melting it away from her body
And she cools him
In a way he can never be cool otherwise
And for a brief moment
They allow themselves to be one thing
And then each other

But when the ten parts of the ten parts
Of the tenth part of a second are over

They separate

And both walk away
Across the water

And begin to wait
For another ten years
To pass