Drowned
What you have become;
this washed-out shell I see before me
bobbing ineffectually
on the mild currents of your infamy.
The cold light of your being
once plowed through mighty waves,
but now sits still and silent at my feet.
We remain an ocean apart.
You struggle motionlessly
while I fight
against the breakers that tore us apart,
the world
that has taken you away from me.
And I triumph in survival,
having sacrificed your life for mine;
but the air that fills my lungs cannot fill yours.
I tried to hold you above the waves,
yet you did not fight.
You did not fight,
and let the current
drift you away while I fought
with desperate passion . . .
And now I brave this storm alone.
I brave the waves
and find myself on distant shores
gasping for breath,
gasping for life.
Life fills me,
overwhelming my senses.
I stand
on unsteady feet,
still confident
that I will live to face this tide
once again.
