Palms of suction home,
Irresistible beauty—
Drinking deep surface.

sound...

     distant

                     oh so distant

my screams

                 echo so far

        unheard

beneath my shallow grave

if the bottoms of our feet
were repeatedly coated in black ink,
then someone at least would start so see
how much I fall behind.

like the shadow that begins
side by side but slowly lengthens
stretches, pulls away from
your footsteps, I fall behind.

the distance between our strides
leaves clues of one stronger, one weaker,
and it's unclear if the person ahead is faster
or the other is just slower and falls behind.

if i could paint my feet to see
the difference in our gaits that lead
you to be so ahead of me, I would
but I could never stop to look back
without falling behind.

Let me see
Your internal
Wounds
So I may
Heal them
As you
Are healing mine.