The Spar

clinging to a spar
and the mouth full of water
salt-disgust and
spitting, choking, see
no land anywhere, cannot
turn the head, hands
wet, frozen, fingers white
and numb,  cannot hold on,
cannot hold on, treading
water, no firm foothold, liquid
depth and moving
fear - any
minute I will go under, no
light, no bell, no
ship, no land, treading
hell, heaving hell, living
hell - but no
dying yet - heaven
can wait till I come -
still here and
holding on
Collected Works
Return to Collections all
next poem