My Poetry

Drowning

It takes might to get up every day
And I feel I'm struggling to meet that quota
As I sink deeper and then flail harder
And I try my best to stay afloat|
But ultimately I fell out of my boat
And now I'm sinking, I'm drowning
And even as I struggle I cannot reach
That light that shines through the ripples
Of the water that covers me

And as the refracted light meets me
My panicked and desperate eyes
I struggle even harder to reach the top
And meet the sky and my friends above
But the burning of my lungs
And the weight upon my legs and ankles
And the deep burn within my lungs
Keeps me down and sinking to the bottom
In this sea of insecurities

I sink much deeper and the water then
Presses down on me from all sides
Every point of contact is compressing
And I feel the pressure and I'm in pain
But still I struggle to reach the surface
And the world that I love and know
And the people that I want to see again
Though now I cannot hold back any longer
The need to breathe

I let out my air in a scream from the soul
A terrified and helpless noise muffled by this sea
A need for air slowly suffocates me as I draw in a breath|
And it's not air but this acidic water that enters my lungs
But I don't die quite yet even though the water is in place of air
And I feel every droplet inside of me
And I try to cough it out and just breathe
The water only keeps coming in the desperate struggle
Then I sink further as the sea gets darker

The light is starting to fade at the top
The pressure is becoming too much
And the presence of the water is killing me slowly
As everything goes black.

2022