I've always been a good swimmer;
I could tread water with ease.
Even when I only used my legs,
I never sank below the waves.

But when this year started,
My legs were tied
And weights were added
So I began to sink.

My lungs are filling with water;
No one can see my tears
As they melt into the depths-
My lost message in a bottle.

The hands are reaching from above,
But my hands are stuck to my sides.
I want to grab them, desperately
Yet they are too far away.

The notes and clues float by
But the water smudges the ink;
The words are too jumbled to read
And the light is receding anyway.

The darkness is encroaching,
The panic setting in
The beauty I once saw in life
No longer what it had been.

The coral turned to teeth
And the blue had turned to black;
The tide had swept me away
Ensuring there was no turning back.

Maybe I will learn
Or maybe I will rot
Maybe i will cut the ropes
or maybe I will not