I’m submersed in the Red Sea
Sinking deep like the Titanic
I should have known better
Not to test the ocean’s depth with both feet
How jejune of me, a green fish
To flex fledgling fins in torrential streams
With careless abandon
I took a nosedive into my waterloo
Hoping you’d be the Rose to my Jack
In this aquatic odyssey populated by sharks
My hands were outstretched
But you didn’t reach out
I screamed your name till my lungs burned
You were my lifeline
The anchor of my salvation
While I petered into the belly
Of salty a lachrymal pool
Through blurry lens, I saw you
Walking on the stormy sea
Not to my rescue, but farther away
Till your view swam into oblivion
This is beautiful Nduka. I love the imagery and your choice of ‘aquatically-oriented’ words! I also enjoy how you start this poem from the end and take us through how the end (the drowning) came to be. I’m still trying to figure out a literal analogy to your piece…and they could be many actually…which I also commend: the ambiguity of your piece. Loved this Nduka
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