Sinking

My head is beneath water

My legs and arms are flailing

I can’t breach the surface

No matter how hard I kick

* * *

Bubbles escape my lips

Trailing up toward the sunlight

Taking my breath away from me

As I grow more and more lightheaded

* * *

I once reached for you to guide me to the surface

Both my buoy and my anchor

But now when I claw at the water

All I find is empty space

* * *

I sink lower and lower

My panic rising in my throat

The darkness wraps itself around me

I dread the feel of rock bottom beneath me

* * *

My vision is distorted

My breath struggles to sustain me

My mind is forever clouded

But I never lose sight of the light on the surface