unseen danger

after looking dubiously at the sepia water
of the nearly still creek
I went back and asked
is it safe for swimming?

oh, yeah
the owner nodded
I’ve been swimming in it all my life
the crocs are just in saltwater
20ks away

approaching a second time
I got in enough to launch a canoe
all the better to appreciate
how the water was thick like molasses
(perfectly natural, filled with nutrients)
but it wasn’t the water that put me off
it was the impenetrable darkness of it
not knowing what was beneath
the inscrutable surface

hours later
when we came across the six-foot-long python
unhurriedly examining the chicken coop
a short ways from our tent
I did not regret having saved my dip
for the pure cold clear swimming pool,
unmistakably empty before I entered