kicking and screaming,
she fought
the seaweed that swathed
her limbs in emerald wraps,
but each shout was muted
by the water
polluted
with a thick muck
stained by even
blacker souls
who too thrashed
in that seaweed



it was only
when she'd lost
all hope and desire
to escape the
leafy grips
that the murky bottom
swallowed up
the tangled seaweed
like a serpent's tongue



in those moments,
through bleary eyes
she saw her
worth
wash away
with the angry swells
and she understood -
she reclaimed
her limbs and ascended
upward to salvage
her soul once more
for now
she was weightless.