After Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) by David Hockney
All love ends in water—be it ocean,
lake, or pool. One moment he’s
dogpaddling and sipping on a cocktail;
the next, he’s swimming full force
to the other end of the pool, away from you,
towards the fresh fish that he won’t
let escape. Your bait doesn’t entice
anymore. Your hook’s gone dull.
You’re no longer able to float, so don’t
get too close. Staring at the ripples,
he leaves in his wake. Turn away!
Look to the trees, the valley, the sun,
the elongated shadow that never
abandons you there on the deck.
Cat Dixon is the author of What Happens in Nebraska (Stephen F. Austin University Press, 2022) along with six other poetry chapbooks and collections. She is a poetry editor with The Good Life Review. Recent poems published in The Book of Matches, North of Oxford, hex, and The Southern Quill.