wandered down a crooked path
wasn’t sure what waited there
lost the way I’d stumbled in
fell sideways through the air
pigeons overhead came down
beating hard around my head
circled like they knew my name
like they knew what lay ahead
I wondered why they let me be
walking a road I couldn’t see
from down here on the ground
just listening for the sound
the sound of something underneath
the sound of something calling me
through the roots and through the leaves
out beyond the hills and sea
then something turned inside my head
split it like a rotting beam
now I drift half-zombified
through the middle of a dream
can’t tie my shoes
can’t hold the line
can’t tell your thoughts apart from mine
just letting strange winds carry me
out beyond the drowning sea
sometimes I float
sometimes I sink
sometimes I stop and try to think
what’s the matter here with you
are you frightened too
you reach and grab my freezing hand
pull me farther from the land
down where all the drowned things roam
walking slow beneath the foam
shells and pearls and bleaching bone
sunken things the tide won’t own
people swaying in the deep
with seawater where their hearts should be
down below we drift for days
through the green and lightless haze
every face looks pale and wrong
every silence sounds like song
I still don’t understand
whether you were thief or friend
whether you were saving me
or leading me below the sea
now the waves move through my chest
cold and endless in their roll
and the ocean keeps on filling
every room inside my soul
somewhere far above
the waves and light still reach the shore
but the sea has claimed my wandering bones
on land I live no more
What do you think?