Sometimes I feel like I'm being held underwater,
I open my mouth and scream for help,
I kick and push, desperate
to escape her clutch.

I want someone to help me,
I want someone to hear me
and pull me out of this
bottomless sea of sorrows.

She violently floods me,
I feel the water cascade through me.
I feel it crush me inside,
drowning me slowly.

I begin to realise that
no one will ever hear me,
when my head is this deep
under the sea.

Eventually I get tired.
I'm tired of the kicking
I'm tired of the screaming.
I am ready to succumb.

I close my eyes
and feel as my head finally goes silent.
I find comfort
at the bottom of the sea.

I feel her current
as she caresses me softly,
handling me with the utmost care.
I feel safe.

She wraps me in her warm embrace,
closing in on me,
suffocating me gently.
I inhale once more

finally free.

BY SIDRA ALRIFAI