Sinking

 

Moonlit eyes reflected on still, icy water

They draw me in

Into those deep blue depths I wander,

I dissolve into fragments of our memories

as I wade through your visions,

I see myself from the back line of your heart

and with salty tears,

I distort the perfect mirror of your eyes

 

Questions ripple out from the source:

How do you see such beauty in something so cruel

Why do you stay there in that storm that bites and claws at your soul

Don't you know why storms are named after people

 

My love does not know release

My love is desperate, unapologetic,

it will clutch you back every time you reach for the shore

 

But you are stronger than the tides

Gravitational pull has no power over your will

So what force is this that binds you to the idea

of this endless body of water

Have the sirens whispered sweet lies of true love

and other treasures buried deep in these dark waters

Or is the idea of drowning seeming sweeter than regret

 

Either way, be sure that I will destroy you in the most beautiful way

and the shipwreck I cause will mark every place with our memories

You will taste me forever like salty blood in your mouth

And your bright eyes will haunt me until the day I run dry

 

J-C4113D's picture

Magnificent use of an

Magnificent use of an extended metaphor, really fantastic!  But I am not sure of the voice(s).  Is there one or two?  And which one is speaking in the final paragraph?


J-Called

InsertPseudonymHere's picture

Thank you! Valid point.

Thank you for your comment!

Reading over it again I definitely see where the voice becomes unclear. I intended it to be one voice throughout. Author's intention and reader's interpretation are rarely the same. I like the idea of two voices; the last paragraph could be interpreted as the voice of the other person in the relationship. 


J-C4113D's picture

Thanks for the reply.  I

Thanks for the reply.  I agree---the last paragraph does introduce the other person.  Perhaps setting that off in italics, or some other typographical clue, might make that a little more clear for the reader, but that is for you, and not me, to consider.  Regardless of that, the extended metaphor is very well orchestrated, one of the best I have ever encountered (and I have been reading poetry for forty-two years now).


J-Called