Member Poem

I did not drown,
for I was on solid ground,
and nor was I cold-
nor was I wet-

my clothes were not drenched-
and I did not smell like the salt of the sea.
I did not drown, for if I had,
I would have been clean.

My memory of hardships
and heartbreaks
would have been washed away
and made as pure as water

and as white as snow.
Though I did not drown,
my skin felt wrinkled
and wet-

my lungs felt filled with water
as the world pulled me down,
freezing me-
suffocating me.

But if I had drowned,
I would not have been so afraid-
I would have let the water embrace me
in its everlasting love.

It would have cleansed me-
made me pure-
making me whole
once more.