dangerous waters

“It’s only waist deep here”
she assures me as she wades out from the bank,
but I know there are cottonmouths about,
and unseen gravel pits and god-knows-what-else
hiding in the murky river.
She crouches below the surface then pops up
in a surge of splashing drops,
shimmering and sleek as an otter,
reddish-blond hair plastered down her back,
sunlight glinting off her skin,
and she is laughing, “Come on in silly.”
The day is hot and sticky and
the cool water has a certain appeal –
if one is willing to tempt fate
for the sake of sensual pleasures.
She gives me an encouraging look,
blinking big blue-green eyes to heighten
the sweet panic rising in my chest.
I gaze at drips from her dark pink lips,
the points standing out on her bathing suit,
and the pale hips above her freckled thighs.
She implores me with waves of her graceful hands
and a toothy grin to leave behind my fears.
I swallow hard and dive into forbidding water.