[ Thin Ice ]

Heart of Babel

I'm walking on thin ice

Weighing like an anchor

Cracks beneath my feet

This is clear and present danger

The mind says play it caution

Yet I'm hesitant to linger

One false move and I'm abandoned

To the depths of a stranger

 

A struggle in the solitude

Caught and independent

The burden on my back

Leave the sinews unrepentant

An aching in the heart

And the mind is unattended

As these cracks expand the course

And soon supports will be descended

 

Could try to move in haste

But the danger is prevailing

Shuffling my feet

To match the pace the ice is failing

My eyes catch the reflection

And is shocked by the unveiling

Feeling frozen to the nature

Of a person that is ailing

 

Try to calm the mind

Anxiety has risen

You can feel it pierce your heart

Panicked with indecision

Try to move out from the center

And yet gravity is driven

Set to keep you on a course

And hold you in this prison

 

Shallow is my breathing

With calculated action

If I exhaust all my efforts

How can I maintain traction

One step leading the other

Yet divided is their faction

The means of making choice

Both cause and reaction

 

If this ice breaks

Will I be swallowed up in darkness

Will I meet the fate of peril

Of a truth I never harnessed

Can't quite still my breathing

Halt this quiver in a sternness

Friction assailed against me

And I default to being nervous

 

Weighted and dragging

No chance against the tide

Need the ice to hold form

For the moments I'm alive

For the moment I am blind

Finding nothing to confide

The ice still cracks beneath me

And I am running out of time

 

One step and then the other

A slow and steady pace

Water seeping through the cracks now

Makes it hard to feel embraced

Closer to the edge

Widening the space

Nearing my salvation

While the ice is giving way

 

© HeartOfBabel

  • Author: Garathe Den (Pseudonym) (Offline Offline)
  • Published: August 26th, 2021 14:51
  • Comment from author about the poem: An introspective piece that subtly depicts relationship abuse and heartbreak.
  • Category: Reflection
  • Views: 14
  • Users favorite of this poem: HannahElisabeth, L. B. Mek.
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Comments2

  • HannahElisabeth

    "Try to calm the mind
    Anxiety has risen
    You can feel it pierce your heart
    Panicked with indecision
    Try to move out from the center"

    I hate that I can say you nailed it.

  • L. B. Mek

    'A struggle in the solitude
    Caught and independent
    The burden on my back
    Leave the sinews unrepentant
    An aching in the heart
    And the mind is unattended
    As these cracks expand the course'..
    (They advise us
    the safest place to stand on shallow ice
    is in the middle, to help balance the weight
    only
    they, seem to not realise
    it takes a while, to painstakingly calculate our path
    to that safe haven: median
    and all the while, that we're crossing on our tip toes
    we can see the sharks circling beneath, awaiting
    our seemingly inevitable, demise)
    that's why, we need to remind ourselves
    it's ok to dial that helpline
    it's ok to be the one: in need
    at times..
    a great write! liked the accessible imagery, dear poet
    (usually if I write or read something
    that may trigger, an impetuous in someone
    to escape their turmoil
    I try and include some general helplines, just in case
    however unlikely, we can never know)

    • Heart of Babel

      That is a good idea, the helpline, especially with all that has affected people that last year and some.



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