Love and hope in difficult times

Rip Tide

Published in

Paper Poetry

2 min readSep 24, 2023

I thought you were talking nonsense
but I didn’t listen hard enough
when you said you couldn’t save me
if I swam into the surf.

Diving into roiling waves
battling for our life
I was sure you’d change your mind
and join me in the fight.

As currents dragged me out to sea
and chaos boiled the ocean
I fought alone to save us both
adapting to its motion.

When I tired, the sea below
pulled me to its depths
acid salt burned in my eyes
demon tears and baby breaths.

But I kicked back up toward the light
and burst upon the land
to find you standing on the beach
a sea of grains with waves of sand.

The dunes marched before the wind
like the breakers it had wrought
and I watched you move away from me
without a struggle or a thought.