Treading water with aching limbs
A tear rolls down my cheek as another sunset begins.
The clouded night prevents the stars from guiding me,
Makes the moon offer no light.
A familiar black ocean is embracing me with love and hate,
He knows me and I know him – my weaknesses, his strengths.
I try so hard to keep my head above the waves, not
Wanting salt to drown my ears, filling them with inward hate.
So tired, so hard. I close my eyes for a moment and
Then realise that my faceless friend is dragging me under.
I can sense that they are smiling as they point towards a light,
I know where it leads: the end and the beginning of who knows.
The pressure of the water is heavy on my heart and I
So long to let go, to float away and forget: to struggle no more.
But hope suddenly takes my other hand, freeing me and guiding
Me back to the surface.
The sunrise welcomes my return by showing me the shore,
The directions I can choose.
Relief as I start to swim, but solid ground is so far away that
The sun has to leave before I have the chance to make it.
And as I tread water watching my light disappear,
My aching limbs sigh as a single tear rolls down my cheek,
Knowing that my next struggle is about to begin.
