What It Would Have Taken For Narcissus To Drop His Gaze

by Ajla Dizdarević
Visual by Capri Rabatch

What it would have taken for Narcissus to drop his gaze
would have taken the river itself to dry. No one thought
to dam the river the gods damned him to, hold his hand, 
let ceding water flit between fingers and say
This? This will come and go—you cannot hold
onto it forever. The visage will slip downstream. 

What did they know of weightlessness, of love borne 
from focus? Perfection derives from restraint, 
and Narcissus knew how to control himself.
He did not forget he was starving by the riverbank.

Had someone pulled him apart from his reflection and 
taken him to the bloated air he could not contend with, 
would we have heard him say
I was not scared to take the jump or land so delicately.
It was the fall / the descent / from what I
have come to love and know myself by that kept me
motionless / fraught / and lonely.