Impending Nightmares.

Her small hands tightened around the driftwood,

as she desperately kicked – fighting to stay afloat.

As the relentless waves shoved her around,

she considered what would happen if she let go.

She was buoyant she wouldn’t immediately drown,

millions of icy threads would first shroud her papery lungs.

Slowly she would be numbed, having lost the ability to scream,

the deluge would rock her soothingly, to the rhythm of her escaping reality.

Her eyes closed, as she envisioned giving in to the ravenous water,

she’d merely have to unclench her whitening fist- how easy that would be.

In the blinding darkness, she found herself searching for the sweet lullaby of the roaring waves,

the ones that threatened to take her under.

As the oxygen snatching music filled her ears,

in a trance she almost smiled, her tired fingers twitched.

Suddenly, the things she was trying to leave behind, began to sing discordant harmonies,

the lullaby was no longer sweet.

As pained shrieks drove nails into her ears- her eyes shot open,

she desperately kicked at the frothy tentacles.

Submitting to the blue no longer seemed like a release,

letting go of the driftwood was no longer a nightmare she could dream of.