inescapable waves

Everyone knows that at the depths of despair, grief is all consuming

like you’re drowning in the middle of the ocean with out a soul in sight or a harbour to call home,

but what about the waves,

that come later and later,

fewer and farther apart,

less of an impact but they’ll knock the air out of you regardless.

I always forget about the waves until I’m thrashing against them fighting to get a breath of air,

my toes can touch the bottom and yet I’m still struggling in the ocean none the less,

“it’s just the waves, they come and they go”

I tell myself,

let go, give in, go with the flow,

eventually it all passes.

But every time the waves come,

and they’ll never stop coming,

every time it catches me a little off guard.