There is a riptide

There is a riptide

Tearing back and forth

Pulling

Wrenching

Yanking

Slipping, sliding

Dragging at an anchor

Tossed this way and that

Treacherous

Fingers barely holding

Footholds gone

Out of depth

Tiptoe balancing

A free dancer

Choking on fear

Thrown by the force

Of one’s own nature

Into a maelstrom

Barely a step away

From safety

Breathing solid air

Spinning into a recollection

Of John Marytn

Who would rather be the Devil

Than an ocean

Restless in motion

Hauling the truth

Further into the deep

How do Dolphins swim

Through doldrums

What keeps hope grounded

Sliding with the ebb

Shifting in shallows

That seem deeper

Too unstable to make promises

Whilst waving for help

Who would know

The clarity of murky waters

When hanging on

Is a full-time occupation

Living a preoccupation

Of the dying

Clinging to a lifeline

Unevenly spread

Tying a reef knot

In a soul

Full of brine

As the tide turns

And footprints disappear