Carissimo, lounging at our villa in Tuscany
golden sun licks azure ripples, warms stone deck

I'm reclining with my book on a chaise longue
regarding you through my shades

I savor the moment, the vision of you moving
on a raft to and fro along the length of skytop pool

the pool sits on an overlook atop the valley
your fingers trail the surface as you skim through the water

now and then you give a little push with your hands
or feet, at pool's end, and then set sail again

we are here for a weekend
it is not an exile

it is a moment we can steal to be together
or to be alone, but by ourselves

down in the valley cypresses, individual and alone
ancient, grown, line the brown valley

I put down my book, sip from sparkling water
get up and stretch my limbs

I reach my arms towards the sky and close my eyes
feel the hot sun against my pale Slavic skin

we need 15 minutes of sun each day
for the vitamin D

when I open my eyes again I see that
you are looking at me

you smile, you with your pale Slavic skin
you might burn too easily

I'd better do something about that
and so I jump

no, I don't jump, I lightly step
along the stone tiled terrace

faces of gods interspersed in the squares
and try my foot in the water

step down into the clear cool deep
my foot changes appearance under water, then the other one

all is shimmery and moving below as
I step into the azure surround toward you

you are smiling there, beaming, as I approach
and then I set sail in the waves - take a quick splash

and dive to arrive by you
and we both profess we were worried

you were going to be burnt in this hot Tuscan sun!
so I've come to cover my body over yours

as a kind of sunscreen, caro
and you can do the same for me

or if we just stay here in the water, in the sun
our shoulders below the surface

we can explore what it's like
to be underworld sea creatures

making love underwater
while above the waves

in the approving gentle sun
our eyes meet and our lips and we kiss

and down below the tops of the cypresses reach
distractions for tourists driving below

so they don't see what you and I are up to
high above