We started to feel underwater
though it was just under rain —
under rain, and under tears,
under memories, and under
the warp of time

We tried to speak
but our words were garbled,
bubbles rising up,
purpose having floated off
somewhere else

We couldn’t hold ourselves to anything,
couldn’t stay grounded,
couldn’t fly up to the surface for air

Our only hope
was to close our eyes for long enough
that when we opened them
the whole strange scene would be gone.

©Wendy Mulhern
March 11, 2019