Enantiodromia (Greek: ἐνάντιος): a principle introduced
by psychiatrist Carl Jung that the superabundance
of any force inevitably produces its opposite.

Spring

Barebacked and tenderfooted, we
scale that boulder nicknamed “Lovers’ Leap,”

mind the gaping green lake,
amble toward the peak,

and I look into your eyes, whirlpooling
a future together.

Facesplitting, you leap
first and then

I dive in, surfacing
inside your skin.

Winter

Burdened and battertoed, I
retrace the path to that boulder

overlooking the cloudwater,
trek to the tip

and resolve: mouthing forever
is treachery, love

is a practiced crucifixion.
Chest sinking,

I dive in—

 

 

Despy Boutris is published or forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Copper Nickel, Colorado Review, The Adroit Journal, Prairie Schooner, Palette Poetry, Third Coast, Raleigh Review, Diode, The Indianapolis Review, and elsewhere. Currently, she teaches at the University of Houston and serves as Assistant Poetry Editor for Gulf Coast.

 

Photograph by W. Marsh.