A Book of Verse

Drowning

All sound is blocked out

as the water seals above my head.

My eyes see in blue and white

light and dark.

All hope is gone

oh, how far I am from home!

Drowning, a voice in my head echos.

Drowning.

My chest tightens around my beating heart.

My eyes look upward at the patch of white that is my last hope.

But I can't swim

I never could.

I have always hated water.

I begin to lose hope

as my throat stiffens.

My eyes look up once more as I breathe my last.

I will never return home

I will never see my beloved again.

I will never sit on the hearthrug and tell of my adventures to my children.

A hand reaches out of that white pool of light

and I am lifted, coughing and sputtering, to the surface once more.

_______________________

Author's Notes

This poem is based on a scene in The Fellowship of the Ring, in which Frodo is attempting to escape the fellowship in a boat and Sam chases after him, ignoring the fact that he can't swim. As I watched Sam begin to drown, I was reminded of my own fear of drowning even though I can swim. But I relaxed when Frodo's hand broke the surface of the water and pulled Sam to safety. I felt like I had almost drowned and then been rescued, so I began to type out of gratitude.