braveandrecklessblog

Drowning

i am a woman

in a large

glass box

that is slowly

steadily

filling with water

covering my feet

my ankles

my knees

padlocks of my

own design

keep me trapped

in this watery prison

the opaque panels

block me from view

murals painted with

images of my placid

face doing routine things

deceive the world

inside the box

the water

has reached

my hips

my waist

this water has weight

has heft

presses against me

locks me in place

speakers outside the box

play my prerecorded voice

soft

calm

lulling the audience

while the water

the soothing temperature of my bath

continues to rise

covers my chest

suffocates me

part of me fights

struggles to break free

longs for fresh air

longs for the light

part of me is tired

so very very tired

how easy it would be

to just let go

relinquish myself

to the darkness

the clock is ticking

as the water rises

dangerously high

up to my shoulders now

my voice will soon be gone

can I pull a Houdini

or will I drown

in this unholy

flood of my tears

my blood

my liquid pain?

Posted in PoetryTagged , , , , , , 43 Comments

43 thoughts on “Drowning”

  3. “murals painted with
    images of my placid
    face doing routine things
    deceive the world
    inside the box”

    Yes, this is it, isn’t it?
    The truth in your words is what generates the gravity to your work. It’s very real and eloquently expressed.

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  4. Wow! Beautiful writing! Like any excellent writing, it makes me relate with and care about the protagonist; it creates in me a desire to know….Did she make it? Did she survive? Did she pull her Houdini and escape? I gotta know! I hope so. And the eternal optimist in me believes the best: that she did… that she emerged… that she still lives to write yet another awesome poem for me to enjoy. Thanks for the experience!

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      1. Things are OK, bit hectic home life, little one had chicken pox! So yeah haven’t really kept up with my blog. Personally I’m feeling better than I have in many months, hope it continues 🙂

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  7. You have a way of expressing something dark that makes it beautiful. You are Truly gifted! I like this a lot. Thank you for sharing.

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  10. I could picture my life while reading that. And well it is the truth….letting go seems to be the easiest thing to do. And knowing that I’m not the only one facing this makes me feel a little less alone. Hats off!

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  11. I could picture my life while reading that. Well it’s true that letting go seems to be the easiest, but I’m not sure if that would get us somewhere better.
    It’s really well written…I’ve also set course on the same road but I’m far far behind. Hope to join you someday. Hallelujah!

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  12. This is honestly really beautiful. It’s simple enough in the style, however you’re still describing something that I think is very real for many people. You’re meaning is clear, though you aren’t saying it outright. Definitely a poetically strong piece, you did an amazing job with it.

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        1. Such flattery! I took a look at some of your posts. You use some beautiful and evocative imagery and I quite liked several of your pieces. I did think The Abyss you Left was a little long and was kind of itching to be several more focused pieces. You have gotten likes from some well-respected WordPress poets. I think you have great potential. I would be willing to talk more offline about this if you want to fill out a contact form but will have limited time before next weekend as I am running a conference on Friday!

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