her dull eyes, pale skin, blue lips
were once radiant and lively
but now she’s gasping for air
while everyone around her easily breathes
she’s drowning
sinking further down

she screams, “someone save me!”
but her mouth doesn’t move
the words don’t come out
people just stare at her
oblivious to her internal battle
no one sees she’s falling
and holding on for dear life

the water around her
is trying to fill her lungs
it’s trying to overtake her body
and she’s tired of fighting it
the water’s getting too strong
she can’t hold on much longer

the water pushes down on her body
filling her organs
it’s damaging everything she’s made up of
and she lets it

everything goes black
she can’t move anymore
her body is numb
her heart stopped beating

the water drowned her
and they let it happen
no one rescued her
she begged for someone to save her
but no one bothered to ask
three simple words
“are you okay?”