Life Raft

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

puffy eyelids blink and crinkle

eyes crack painfully ajar

quick flash of gunmetal sky

 

ashen clouds

obsidian, menacing

thundering in the heavens

 

struggling to rise, weakness engulfs her

shuttered eyelids descend

she sinks back into stupor

 

emerging from oblivion is agony

salty crusted lips crack apart

parched throat rasps

 

struggling to rise, pushing up with her elbows

with a supreme effort

she raises her heavy head

 

the life raft is completely empty

oars gone, supplies gone, companions gone

she is all alone

 

sapphire swells ripple outwards to the edge of time

no land, anywhere, in any direction

no food, no water, no hope

 

horror rises like a demon crawling up from the depths

it claims her body from inside

gouging, ripping, tearing

 

noiseless screams echo in her mind

as seagulls’ cries drift in the breeze

it’s hopeless

 

loved ones rise before her

she sees their faces

she hears their voices

 

pointless to struggle

resistance is futile

the end is near

 

we all draw to a close eventually

it’s just a question of how

pray that it will come quickly

 

the life raft rides rhythmic rolling waves

oh, to be lulled into peaceful slumber

and to slip silently into the soundless sea

 

sinking below to the endless green depths

drifting gently down, down, down

descending through the darkness to eternal rest