Down

We all start out in the shallow waters,

Wading and splashing,

Because look!

We’re floating, we can swim!

But then the waters rise,

Forcing us into deeper depths,

Into waters where there is no sand,

No land, no anything

On which we can stand.

The icy hands of the depths pull us down,

Down, down, down,

And the waters’ surface is so far, far away

Far from our reach

No matter how much we struggle.

We ask for help,

Beg for help,

Scream for help,

But none comes,

For we must work hard and on our own.

They say that they’re helping,

That they have our best interest at heart.

They say that they’re getting us ready

For the lives we are to lead.

So we splash desperately

As the water seeps from us

Our energy, our hope,

Our innocence,

Our freedom.

Until one day, we succeed,

Until we finally manage to swim once more

To not have the icy hands of the waters

Pull us down, down, down.

Then the waters rise once more.

They say that they’re helping,

That they have our best interest at heart.

They say that they’re getting us ready

For the lives we are to lead.

They give us task after task,

Order after order.

There is no rest,

No return to what once was.

There is only the water.