how easily it slips away

love
is this elusive fish

in your hands. shiny and wet
in the sunlight

with the promise of filets
on the grille.

you stood all day in the cold
water
to reel her in.

wrestling with it
as you unsnag the hook
from
her jaw.

the beauty of it's scales,
it's
perfect body

choking in a new sea
of air.

how easily

it slips right out of
your hands. you have it
one second

then it's no longer there.