There are no ways to safeword out of this life.
I know, I’ve tried them all.
Elephant, apple, Alaska, amen.
Tried screaming anything into the pillow my face is pushed down into,
Whiskey, tango, foxtrot, stop
Exhausted my vocabulary against the blanket my fists are balled into fists against,
Anything to make the beatings stop
But they just
Keep
Coming.
In ****, having a safeword is like wearing a seatbelt.
There are rules about having one
And the ones who choose to do without
Are taking risks.
We are born without lifejackets, without seatbelts and safecut scissors
Without breakaway glass or rubberized mats
Without any way to make the world slow down
Let us catch our breath,
And jump back in.
There are no hard limits in the real world.
So we bite into our gags and wait for the session to end.
Elephant, apple, Alaska, amen.

The Skipper -

welcome aboard The Lady Mother Earth

if this ship sinks, it will probably take a while

DO NOT PANIC
MUTINY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!

some may still have to walk the plank
after sinking

lifejackets are available on the starboard and port sides

when looking toward the bow
the left-hand side is the port side
the right-hand side is the starboard side

sometimes you may have to switch sides to keep her from rolling
we do not want this lady to roll!

first, it will tilt to one end or the other

the bow is the front end of the ship
the stern is the rear end of the ship

the stern will probably go down first

you all will probably run to the bow, in that case
sometimes this can cause a teeter totter effect
sometimes that effect may keep us afloat for a while
sometimes not

although this ship was built
by the finest ship builders ever
the stern has less mass, but more density

we will have no time for physics lessons, if it starts sinking
deckhands, cooks, and even gilligan, must work together

WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST

I will surely go down with the ship, if she goes down...

for now, let's just try to sail on, and not think about it
let's think of charting the best course

Some days I feel I'm drowning
sinking way down low.
Some days I feel like giving up
and think I'd like to go.

But, looking up above me
I see a gleaming light.
I swim and kick and struggle
and push with all my might.

As I break upon the surface
I gasp and gulp for air.
I look all around me
and can't believe what's there.

Floating on the ocean
as far as I can see
lots of coloured lifejackets
waiting just for me.

As soon as I get near one
they wrap themselves around
and pull my weary body
to some safer ground.

'Where do they come from? '
I think I hear you say.
Well, they come from the people
I talk to every day.

People who understand
this journey we are on.
Whether it is short
whether it is long.

So, thank you my friends
that's all I'd like to say.
And, I hope I'll be a lifejacket for you someday!

I never knew much of love
I can't say I've ever been very fond of it
But I know that when the sadness became the sea
You taught me how to swim
And even now when I know you've run out of lifejackets
I look for you as I'm drowning
Maybe it's because I miss you
Or maybe I just have no one else
And alone stings worse then the sea

It is not that I am trapped in water...
Sinking to the bottom, where the Titanic lays.

No,
I am drowning in my own thoughts; my own fears.

A boat may have enough lifejackets to save the many innocent people;
I, on the other hand, wouldn't want these thoughts treated carefully.

In fact, my thoughts and fears are not welcome passengers in my mind,
They are, however, the anchor weighing me down.

Let it out
Fragments of a past
Ship battered against the waves
Endlessly coming
I hold on to emotions
Lifejackets that sink you
Until I'm buried in worry
That stare pretends to care

an old soldier with
orange lifejackets fishfingered in a row
some still in packets,
rust blossoms on nuts and bolts
while other flakey patches reveal
diseased undercoats.