we watched the ship sink
from a rickety life boat
in the middle of the night.
we had no captain,
no oars,
and nowhere to go.
we floated around, aimlessly,
for several days and several nights.
we were sunburned,
starving, and few in number.
those we lost we left on board,
if only as a reminder
(but for no reason at all.)
when i and the other survivors
were prepared to give up,
a small patch of land came into sight.
we used our arms to slowly, but surely,
row ourselves to shore.
knowing this was our only chance at life,
we sent the lifeboat full of lost chances back out to sea.

sitting in a rowboat of the middle of the sea,
wondering where the bail bucket could possibly be.
there's a hole in the bottom
where the water's rushing in,
i stand, face the shore, dive in and swim.

i drank myself drunk,
i thought myself sad.
i looked at good things,
i only saw bad.
i made myself smile,
i stopped filling my cup.
i quit looking behind me,
things started looking up.

when you were snow,
i was the branch that snapped underneath your weight.
when you were a used match,
i was the charred portion of the stick that burnt with you.
when you were a gust of wind,
i was the umbrella that you whipped inside out.
but now you are a mountain,
and i am the climber who will reach your peak.