Perky Poets Society

Lost at sea
Moving at the whims of the waves
Surrounding me. Enveloping
Me in choppy
Unpredictable
Fickle
Waters.

All attempts
at swimming
--freestyle, butterfly, back--
are nothing
against the will
of the ocean.

In a moment
the horizon disappears
everything is blue
and black
deaf and dark.

Limbs are
Tangled. Tossing. Turbulent.
Grasping with broken
fingers and ragdoll
arms and legs.

A thousand pounds
resting on my chest.
My world is blackness.
Pain. Suffocation.
I’m preparing my own
eulogy.

Something grabs me and pulls a battered body onto shore.

Warmth.
The storm is quiet.
The heavy waves now only seafoam.
My lungs, once filled with water,
Now taste the air.
I blink.
Brilliant sunshine.