the drowning

The Drowning

The island was close to shore when sea was
low we waded over, high tide we swam, dogs
too swam in the shallow and happily barked.

The sea was very clear but further out it had
under-currents I often saw things there of scary
nature, bodies floating by and I knew them.

I liked the shoreline for what I could find, but
didn’t like to be in the sea, I felt it was trying
to drag me down and away from what I knew.

Father said I had hydrophobia I fine word didn’t
understand it though, but hoped it was an illness
so I didn’t have to swim into its dark depths.

I was me who found father washed up on shore,
he had been missed for days, but I had seen him
floating by long time ago and wasn’t surprised.

Mother never came back to our summer house
On the island, when I returned there was a bridge
Across, but the sea was now dark and polluted.