toes curled over cockle-covered rocks
run crimson rivers through sand.
days of quiet rumination are over;
you finally have a plan.

casual goodbyes stood in place
of true and just farewells.
practiced perfectly you tricked them,
with the potency of your spell.

you see waves softly kiss the shore,
the tide gently coaxing you in.
perhaps this time you’ll finally be free,
as you press cold metal to your skin.

wrists bejewelled in garnet drops,
failure ebbs and pools and seeps.
and now you can’t help but start hearing
your mother’s silent weeps.

why is it you that yearns for death,
when others wish you so greatly?
in a world so scared of the mortal coil,
it brushes past it daily.

gannets plunge into icy waters,
emerging with writhing prey.
waterlogged, they risk drowning
but fight for one more day.

dragonflies dart through flowerbeds,
dancing gracefully with the reaper.
they tease the mouth of a hungry bird,
yet silently refuse to feed her.

even the sun, when banished to sleep
keeps pushing above the horizon.
perhaps today is not your time
to be claimed by lord poseidon.

how victorious they must feel,
the birds, the bugs, and the sun.
though the day is filled with turmoil,
they relish in another battle won.

at times like this you may long for it,
the velvet embrace of oblivion.
but there is a truth you cannot deny:
the simple satisfaction of living.

as the sea grips your trembling ankles,
so does energy pour from the wounds.
it’s now your turn to stand and fight,
to not pass quietly on the dunes.

calls for help are quickly answered,
as strangers worry for your health.
pride swells like the ocean filling the beach;
you’ve done most of the work yourself.

notes are burned and plans are scrapped,
you live for ‘hello’s not ‘goodbye’s.
as life continues to tease and test you,
like the gannets and dragonflies.

© ailsey