WANT AND NEED

by Susan Jennifer Polese

I’m up for breath
But I want to stay down
No one is deciding, it’s up for grabs
Want and Need
Want and Need

Glittering surface, artificial and delicious
No need to lick my lips
No road to stick to, no instruction booklet
Want and Need
Want and Need

But over there, that’s me and I’m swimming!
Down in coolest, cool of the Ocean
Water parting, legs kicking
Oxygen filled lungs, not bursting
Silence, not deafening

I come up and breathe
But I want to stay down
The water top attracts me
Against my better judgement
Want and Need
Want and Need

Signs pass, but they’re not meant for me
Spelling out the obvious
Twinkling above the turquois
Pulling me up, where I will not stay
Want and Need
Want and Need

But still, no matter what, I keep an eye on me!
Plunging way down, down
Among the florescent fish
Time is no longer
Eyelids translucent
Still, the sky entices me through the sea

Wanting and needing
Wanting and needing
Never Free

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Old Swimming Baths, 2009 by Daniel Pitin.