like listless waves
Air rolls in and out
upon the barren shores
of my mouth.
it brings no feeling, no relief.

I am
a shipless sailor-
my world is the sea
and it has long trapped me.

I try to recall
a comforting face,
but, its been so long.
no one means anything to me.

I try to taste
the taunt of salt on the breeze,
but, the world is empty
and equal to me.

distantly,
I see
more star-lit ships steer steady
into foaming breakers.
silhouettes stumble
on cedar bows.
long tested hulls collapse,
splintered wood fractures Air.

how brutally I learned
that there's no plucker
watching men like me.
together we're wrecked,
as our Lungs out-stretch.

I don’t want to go to sleep
and wake up
forever beside the sea.
I don’t want to Breath
if it’s become this indifferently.

with red hands,
I try to reach deep,
under my ribs where the world and body meet,
to learn if the Air is sullen
or just me.
I'll build me a raft
and put my faith
in the random, senseless drift
that rolls in and out
like Air through my lips.