Bleeding Out

Bleeding Out 1/14/2013

She cut me good
And she cut me deep
From top to bottom
And from back to front.

And then she let me bleed out
Until there was nothing left
Staring at my heart under glass
As my eyes turned white.

Yes, this ship was built to sink
She was right about that
Jumping off at the just the right moment
And leaving me behind.

I went down with the ship
And saw the waters rise
Cold, unforgiving
Deep, dark, and dead.

Below deck there is no escape
Trapped in the between the bulkheads
Entombed forever
With no way out.

A man goes down
Wordless and straight
Because no one will hear
A call for help
And tears are no help at all.

You can drown in water
Or you can drown in blood
Filling up your lungs
And choking out your life.

Others escape
Because that it was they do
Stampeding for the exits
And trampling each other.

They do not remember
And they do not care
Rising and falling with the tide
Dumb luck and all.

Some will land on their feet
And some will die along the way
But in the end
Life goes on
Until it ends.

They can keep their life tidy
And sweep it all under the rug
Ignoring the unpleasant
And the inconvenient.

Getting away clean
Without debt or burdens
Escaping at the last minute
Guiltless and free.

The weight takes us down
No matter how hard we fight
Inevitable like gravity
Or water between our fingers.

Succumbing at last
To infection or wounds
Our bodies grow tired
And fall in the dust.

But there is always more
Than what we have seen
And blessed is he
Who believes,
But has never seen.

For we shall follow
Where others have tread
To the ground
And back up again.

They hated him first
So where is the surprise?
For better it is to be hated
Than it is to run away.

The world may fall apart
And all our hard work crumble
But here we are
And here I write.

The ghost has risen
And the spirit is strong
Pulling me up
And driving me on.