A hard, stifled breath stumbled in
Like those cool summer mornings at the lake
When we'd cannonball into the water
The impact too shocking to the system
To let out a cry or even a whimper
But just to breathe was heaven
So alive in the gold of the sunrise
Cheered on by whistling birds and crickets

Yet now we stand here still as a ghost
Between linoleum and florescence
The impact too shocking to the system
To let out a cry or even a whimper
To hear aloud what we've always known
The cold water of our own lakes
Rippled by toes and flailing arms
In careening leaps from our own dock

Did we ever really choose to fly
Into the green mountain waters there?
We were together then, in a blanket of youth
Within the loosely written
loves of our days and imaginations
Pressing the simple edges of lakes and peaks
With ragged hair and ***** fingernails
We moved on, and on together we went

But now, in scorned breath we go.
Covered in our solitude and dark clouds
Too sheltered and alone
To let out a cry or even a whimper
Our aspirations silenced by just one
Too many falls into places unknown
Not feeling, not seeing
How we were really living.