Save me,
I’m drowning.
My hand is flailing,
Stirring the still waters.

Oh look, it’s you.
A looming shadow,
Blocking the ray of sunlight.
I wonder what is it that you want.

Have you come to save me,
Or have you come to leer?
Yes, I am now helpless.
It’s not a sight that you’ll often see.

I can feel something touch my hand,
I grasp it.
No, it’s not what I wanted.
It wasn’t your hand.

A lifejacket,
To keep me afloat.
But I’m hyperventilating,
I can’t put it on.

You dived in.
The water was once again stirred,
And you grab me.
I feel safe,
Putting on the lifejacket.

I float,
I tread the calm waters.
I see you swim off,
To the distance,
To the land that I cannot reach.

You stood there,
You watched me.
This look.
Not teasing,
Not taunting.
Sympathy.

You couldn’t let me drown,
I know you still care.
You couldn’t stand to see me so helpless,
So without a cause.

But you refuse to pull me out.
You refuse to take me back in,
To tell me that everything is okay.

You watch me tread the calm waters.
You know I’m safe,
That’s enough for you.
I see you walk away,
Yet I was too proud to call out.

I’m swimming to shore,
But oh, it’s difficult.
I look overhead,
A storm is brewing.
Soon the water will no longer be calm.

Yes, I know I won’t drown.
I have this lifejacket to keep me afloat.
But the shore is still far.
Yes, I know I’ll make it eventually.
But when’s enough, really enough?