Raft

I'm floating on a makeshift raft in the middle of the ocean.
Nothing but blue for as far as the eye can see.
The sky meets the water and it melts into the horizon.

I'm hungry, I'm thirsty.
I'm alone ... and so scared.

I have no sail to catch the wind,
and only one oar ...
that I clutch so tightly my hands bleed.

I wake one morning, parched from the salted air.
There is a notion that today will be different.
Today I will change my fate.
I will not die like this.

Oar in hand, I paddle with every ounce of strength I possess.
The heat of the day wanes into night and still I fight.
I row until my eyes close without warning,
and I fall asleep- feeling stronger than ever before.

Morning comes and as I open my eyes,
my heart shatters.
Exhausted, no better than before- I find that nothing has changed.
Blue upon blue upon blue!
There is no island! No shoreline! No salvation!

I lay back and stare into the never ending sky.
Nothing changes.

-11/01/12