Gray skies and choppy waters
Marked the beginnings of the storm
It seemed at first, smaller
But it raged on and on,
‘til I could scarcely breathe

My boat, sinking
Slow at first but quicker and quicker
As time passed, leaving me
To fight to keep my head up

Fear should have been the response,
But the frigid waters made me numb
Numb to all my surroundings: the water,
The fish, the birds flying, the sharks circling-impervious
To the storm and the raging tides while I
Struggled, clinging desperately to the last bit of boat

My breathe shallow,
My strength all but gone,
I saw it:
The one ray of sun in the otherwise stormy sky,
Pointing directly at my chance of survival, a lifeboat

Maneuvering past the sharks
And fighting the waves
And pulling myself in
Were daunting tasks,
And I nearly gave in to the storm

But I didn’t.
I fought and kicked and struggled,
And it was not in vain

I saw the horizon
And pulled myself ashore
And there, on the sandy beach,
I celebrated,
For I had beaten the storm

I go swimming every so often,
And every so often, the storm will return
And the feelings of defeat resurface,
And I have to learn new things to survive

The best I have learned,
Besides having my boat with me,
Is that sometimes you have to dive low
And swim with the sharks and whales
Before you can break the surface again and
Resurface in calmer waters