A Life Lived Underwater

A Poem

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

crashing, bubbling, flaying

cold

makes me shiver in the dark

while shadows creep in spaces

and sunlight sheds its rays —

free me, release me, undo me,

screaming heaven help me —

but no one’s there to hear

sounds

so delicate to the ear

while they’re sputtered

in gulps and gasps

below the tides.

fighting, flailing, festering

limbs

splay and kick and dive

but no one says a word

because they’re looking down —

lost in worlds far from here,

pleading their own prayers

to a God that won’t be listening —

and I heave up

my own sorry words

that can’t save a darn thing,

not even myself.