Hook, Line & Sinker

 Sometimes life feels like 

Someone who can't swim 

Being thrown into a vast ocean 

Gasping for breath 

Hoping to stay afloat 

While the salty water accumulates 

In the lung.

And then come people. 

Who are the one boat you see while drowning 

And you wave frantically at it 

In a last bid to survive 

Hoping to be seen and heard. 

The one boat that throws a life jacket at you 

And pulls you up and safe 

On to the shore.

You saved me. I whisper.

But you cannot hear it.

Gratitude turns into a slow-burning sensation. 

Of unravelling the mystery that surrounds you..

The saviour, the Messiah, the Beloved.

It was time for the boat to sail again 

And I find myself being scared of the ocean;

The storm that engulfs and eats ships

Disturbs me to the core.

But you seem to have your eyes set

On the horizon, far beyond me 

Your dreams to stay afloat 

Surpasses my phobia of drowning.

So you leave with a promise 

Of seeing me once again.

To you, it was words to me - Vows.

Every night is like a ritual to the Gods

I put a message in a bottle 

And tell the waves to take it to you.

Every morning, I find it washed ashore 

As though you refused to receive it.

But I survive each day, hoping 

That you come back to me.

Every month passes by, thinking. 

The next ship will bring you home.

And then, almost like magic, one did.

I ran through the streets like a madwoman 

People stared, sneered and looked away 

My shoes stumbled across the cobbled path 

As I reach the ship that brought you home.

There you are, smiling your familiar smile 

Before you take the child on your lap

Did you save him, too?

And perhaps the woman who holds your hand?

 I suddenly feel like drowning again.

I can't breathe. I can't stand. 

I can't... Anymore. 

Your eyes find me in the busy port 

And your smile fades as you walk away 

With her, hand in hand.

I look up now, at the sunset 

The horizon far beyond you, 

Me and the existence of love. 

I step back as you disappear into 

The crowd down the street.

I run towards the water's enchanted call 

To take me as an offering once again.

And now I am feeling light. 

Afloat and far from your realms. 

I don't yell to be saved anymore. 

To be taken by a wave of false promises. 

But today, a truth emerges out of the ocean. 

I fell for you, hook, line and sinker 

And you didn't care.

© Suranya