welcome to the drowning valley.
we do not live; we exist.

her legs stopped working months ago.
now she drags herself onward
through the floating, bloating bones.
she forgot what she was looking for
years, decades, centuries ago,
and time drags on without her.

nir leaden lungs drag nir down.
air might as well be metal
for all the good it does.
(nir breath moves slow, hissing.)
ne is not yet drowning,
but the watchers do not help nir swim.

he gave in lifetimes past,
but they will not let him die,
so he stares at the sightless sky,
observing it more dispassionately
than it studies him.

they watch with a curious passion.
rulers need not be dictators or cruel.
to be detached is just as simple.
and they watch the people
existing in the drowning valley.