I watched her crawl from the cold shore,
crouching in the briar, unseen, unadorned.
I could feel the urge to run and embrace her,
and yet, I withheld and let fear replace her.
She steadied a foot, not used to our land,
while I stared from the wilds, and sat still,
understand, that the love I had for this creature is great, but my own humanity may be at stake,
And the choice to join her was too sudden a call,
That I stayed quite still, and did nothing at all.
Until finally, seeing enough, her despairing in the sun,
I shouted, and she froze and ran backward, undone
all the progress made to lure her out, all the time spent floating and swimming about, my voice sent her spinning and I knew it was naught, that my love would soon join me, no longer my plot, and sprinting from the dry dusty land, I left my world, and reached out a hard hand.
Hiraeth Examined 