Revelations

A memory imbeds into the skin

as if it is fighting for no other chance at survival.

Gasping, clinging, aerating and suffocating

until my eyes are mirrors for the helpless.

It is merciless and will kill if need be.

What is enough,

however,

is if I can stay above current for just five seconds.

If I can count with each breath, I may

find the ground beneath my feet.

I may thrash, I may scream

and I may plant my soles where they belong.

One.

Hope is most treasured when it has fled.

Two.

I am not meant for a life in the dark.

Even in the darkest shadows,

I have clung to whatever light

I could find.

Three.

The sun has never forgotten to look at me.

Four.

If I never find the ground, I will find the lake

and the stars and the wind

and the stream and the people

who allow me to bend and break and shatter.

They will be there.

Five.

Humanity is hidden in our wounds.

Mortality is truth

and I must keep that.

Auria Brown