10.      The line fell

She waited to drop in on the crest of the wake,

hellbending proxy of a moment,

catching spray in her eyes.

The water looked blue from a distance,

up close it was mostly clear but slightly brown,

hints of watered-down whiskey in her line of sight.

Still traced on her tongue after resting

on the back seat of the boat.

She caught the wave and went into a kneel,

right knee forward and clutching the left edge

of the board with her left hand,

right hand free as she glided on the crest

and rode the wave to its endpoint.

And then she fell over, backward,

laughter howling,

and disappeared.