the depths

When the depths pull you

Like a fish on a line

Into the darkest waters

And you wrap yourself in the

Words that worked

Back in the pale blue—

Back when you knew—

They stick like a wet bandaid,

Leaving your wounds open to the

Sting of of the saltwater,

Anger circling the scent like a predator.

The old words feel ridiculous

Next to the pain

And the human living inside it,

Like a joke at a funeral,

And suddenly you hear it for the first time:

The way you must’ve sounded

When you had known so little

And said so much.

I could’ve lived forever in the shallows,

Where the world felt like sunshine and

Every question had an answer and

Every right had a wrong and

Every good guy had a villain and

It was just. so. simple.

But maybe the bloody depths offer

A warmth different than sunshine—

Less of a radiance and more of an embrace.

I could’ve lived forever in the shallows,

But now I know I wouldn’t have lived at all.