The Final Breath

A heart wrenched fool once let himself drown His memories untamed as the deep sea The torrential waves crashed over him Agony and longing for a time he could never forgive Nor return to Sleet would pierce his arms and legs Blood ran in rivets down his salt soaked skin Mixing with the dark, wild sea He was a speck, washed away in an uncontrollable force His lust for violence was a promise - I earned this pain. Control was a force I did not deserve When I thought it was the end, I swam under Not bothering to take my final breath It was there I found a ship carcass Wood rotted and weathered, but functional I swam around until I found a piece adrift A weak raft, begging to bring me to the surface No need for my atrophied legs to kick Just a desire to live, to hold on as I was pulled When my salt encrusted lungs took a new breath A fresh breath that I did not want That I was not owed I clung to my second chance Promising to learn to swim, to build my own boat If I could ever return to shore Wrinkled and leathery, an old man unmoors his vessel To drown in regret is the act of a young boy Equal parts wanderlust and masochism With no family or home, he loses only himself The waves overtaking him for a regret unchanged He can choose to live in the sun Tempting, to be released to his sins He instead uses them as a directional guide The wind in his sails a steady force The waves a frigid lesson The sky a promise of brightness ahead A brightness only found Should he not succumb to the wild, unforgiving sea