Bleak and Vibrance

perfect stranger

I

the depths here are crushing
and dark
and lonely,

for very little can survive here in this trench.

wherein, a new day came
and befelled a perfect stranger
whose heart was heavy and hurt,
but tame.

and for the first time in this sea,
breathing had meaning to me.

i held this stranger higher than myself
so that they would fill their lungs with air
before, to my surprise,
they brought me up to breathe aswell.

so i learned to breathe again,
thanks to
this perfect stranger.

II

four seasons have since been passed
(or so i think, for i have no way of telling in this ocean vast).
i still visit the perfect stranger
and they greet me warmly,
and we smile.

but only for a moment.

before my smile can fade from my cheek, they're gone.
and ill slowly sink home, humming the tune they taught me to stay afloat.

III

rare are our visits
and rare are my attempts to surface.
for when i do, they stand not near the dock,
for they now tread inland, on sand and earth afar,
with other strangers,
though none the perfect they are.

its disheartening to see that
they've found their own strangers
who make them beam at a higher peak,
that i could never aid their flight
nor hold their hand at their crest,
and now they're free from a watery grave, save it be the net i pave to ease their fall if they ever dove once more.
and now, for them,
that breathing is no longer a battle, and their heart now burns aglow,
pulsing warmth with each beat.

and ill decend again each time,
back to my depth,
teaching myself to breathe that way.

however,

it's wholesome to see they've caught their breath,
that they can share an air of love
and be loved back.
that the perfect stranger thrives,
and that they smile,
and that they can finally see their own self worth.

and below the bank and surface,
i will stand alone, breathing my own purpose,
for i know my part is done,
and that stranger may never visit my depths again.

but my chin is up,
looking to you

and all i can see is your radiant joy
pour from every pore of your aura.

and that is why i call you the sun.