I feel your long, cat-arch body plunge down into the black water,
the autumn petals radiating out from the splash you made.
You surface a deep breath away from me,
the murky tresses of your hair holding your gangly limbs together.
You break through nose first to nudge your lips into the clotted air.
I welcome the pin-pricks of spray that settle over me,
as back underneath the water you swim,
strong and purposeful, in my direction, before breaching
and planting a lake creature kiss on top of my feet.
—Published 11th of March 2024
About Florence Hall
Originally from the Yorkshire Dales, Florence is a student studying English literature at The University of Oxford. Florence has recently been published in Popshot magazine, SINK magazine, and a publication in the Oxford-based Lunchbox magazine is forthcoming.