We are becalmed,
Taking on water.
Bloodfoam-
poison-
Curdles
In my throat,
Dammed
Behind gritted teeth.
Even deep breaths
Stoke,
The smoulder.
My lungs filled
With ash,
With smoke.
Breaths of acrid air.
I am more scar
Than skin.
Once oak-barked
Now brittle.
My heart
Is bound
Tethered, suffering
The ropes\' burn
While your mind
Is encased
In thorned vines
Growing thicker, sharper,
Tighter with each imagined
Fear you collect.
I cannot
Let you drown
In the deep.
I cannot
Keep us
Afloat alone
And our raft,
splintered
And seeping
Water, is becalmed.
We
Could repair the sails
Together.
I will fashion oars
With my bones
So long
As we
Paddle together.
We can venture
To the horizon,
From the maw
Of the abyss,
The fabled edge.
A sanctuary revealed.
But
I can\'t sail
There for you.