sWiM aT yOuR oWn RiSk

Swim at your own risk, they told us.
No lifeguard present, the sign read.

A brisk disclaimer, a bullshit excuse for something they called safety.

What did they expect of us?
They threw us in and we didn’t even know how to swim.
They threw us in and spoke the words.

They never warned us. They never showed us the way.

Tools, a few.
Dreams, a handful.
Wishes, several
Thoughts, too many .

Through the shadow of what is and what isn’t they reached through with a gloved hand.
The hand was there and then gone.

A split second of relief
A fake net

We thought that help was there. Just when we felt that it was all for something,
Something not for nothing.
But no. Something from the deep grabbed me, pulling me down until the light faded to a sparkle far above and the cool silent darkness surrounded.

We thought, maybe, that good would come.
Maybe, like sunsets we'd seen for years,
The sun would set and our time would arrive.

The place where the time is ours.
When the light goes down and the feelings rise up, we could run free in a space all our own.

Safety? Not really
Luck? Not so much

It was not what it seemed.
It was not what we'd hoped.

Give me a chance. Give me some hearts that are compatible with the one in me.
Some thoughts that match up, someone whose hope reflects the color of mine.

Someone who will run out into the eye of the storm with me and dance in it.
Someone who will see a burning fire where I see dying coals and give me the energy to carry on.

Then, maybe, we will learn how to swim.