By Elizabeth Harper

Apt metaphor
underwater
drowning in despair
movement difficult
slow motion from the get-go
tangled feet
depressed brain
muffled moans of pain
pawing at the tide

My beacon beckoning
lighthouse flickering
birds soaring above
catcalling my name

Splash forward
backwash pullback
not much of a swimmer
it's true
not much of a lover
the wrong kind of blue

Still I keep trying
though we're all
always dying
kisses reviving
until we finally succumb
to the force of water
and drown