Sestina: The Rapture
Dull water on a gray day
Sitting barefoot against the rocks
Listening to the trees breathe
The paddle of my feet
Crushing small fish
Crushing the end of time
Drifting alongside this time
This long unsculpted day
Directing color to the fish
Making their tails flail through the rocks
Following their stripes with my feet
I let go and finally breathe
I breathe
Like I have unlimited amounts of time
Like I haven’t been running-scabs on my feet
Against the harsh day
Against the spikes-the rocks
Watching the free fish
Watching them as they swim far away-these fish
As they try to breathe
Hitting the rocks
Running out of time
Quickly passes the day
I run against the blood on my feet
I blood peeling skin against the grain of my feet
The dead fish
The black day
I try to breathe
I have no time
I fall against the rocks
Striking my head against the rocks
The collapsing feet
Nothing but suffocating time
Splashing earth on fish
I cannot breathe
My end is this day.
