Midnight Swim

I strip on the terrace
Pale skin lustrous beneath the full African moon
I take off, running barefoot across rough red earth
Naked in the middle of the vineyards
A dryad
Unclothed and blissful
Emerald leaves brush my flesh teasingly
Before I plunge
 Into the cool, clear water

I surface
Wishing you were here
To share this moment with me
Imagining how your arms would feel around my waist
Your drenched, naked skin
Slipping and sliding over mine
As you take me right here
With no restraint
Again and again on the banks of the river

I slip below the water
Frantic to wash you from my mind
That was the reasoning behind this nightly ritual
When visions of you disturb my sleep
And the longing becomes too painful to bear