(after Stevie Smith)
I am not waving, but drowning, and you
keep waving, like an idiot savant,
when all I need now is a rescue line,
a rope, a tube, anything that will float.
Don’t you walk away; I’m not quite dead yet,
the water has not yet entered my lungs
and I am still gasping my last breaths
while you smile on the shore like a dummy.
It’s just like you, I realize, to be
so clueless as to the reality
of any given bad situation,
to see puppies and kittens, all sweetness,
When danger lurks for those within your boat:
Don’t know how much longer I can keep afloat.
michael jarmer 