Sarah Sarai
And not waving but drowning
And not wading but drowning
Not parading but drowning
And not treading but drowning
And not slogging but weighted
Not waiting but over my head
In a suck of the ocean a war
With the turf of the lost and the
Bloated leagues buried down
Not wallowing but downing
A cocktail of bitters of seaweed
Too much for the lubbers not
Winking not waving but lapping
The last of a life far offshore.
– after Stevie Smith