The 7 Steps Of Losing Hope - Tumblr Posts

continually wondering if i'm a ghost is my aesthetic.

DROWNING (IN SEVEN STEPS) : A POEM

never thought i’d see the day when i posted poetry on here, and even more, never thought i’d see the day when i posted two poems in such short succession. but it happened so here’s another poem! you may notice a running theme of death and ghosts in my poetry, which is unintentional lmao but is why i named my collection “house ghosts”. anyway i hope you enjoy!

transcript & taglist under the cut.

TRANSCRIPT

step 1: falling

we tumult through the air, slashing birds out of the sky and geese out of the water. we might have fallen off a bridge or a boat or a skyscraper, but whatever it was it all wound up here. we grasp for each other as we fall, but don’t reach each other before we hit the water.

step 2: sinking

when we sink under, only waves can wrench us apart. it’s oddly warm, oddly comforting, the way the bubbles slip between our lips and funnel through our lungs. we breathe water and water breathes us.

step 3: struggling

we cough water and we splash around. sunlight prisms on the surface of the water but doesn’t reach our skin. it’s cold here, its warm here, time doesn’t exist and time is everywhere. we scream and the sound is lost in the blare of water. we weep and our tears are just an extension of the ocean.

step 4: accepting

this is the end, there’s nothing we can do, all we can do is heave, heave, heave, let the tide wash over us and maybe one day we’ll brush against the shore. maybe one day they’ll bury us in a seaside graveyard, or maybe one day we’ll haunt the place we last lived, haunt the people who watched us die but didn’t follow.

step 5: remembering

we think of the times when we sat on chilly balconies, watched dew form on leaves just before dawn, watched the sunrise and the sunset and the sun in the middle of the day, even though it hurt our eyes. when we took solid ground for granted and never thought we’d die like this. we never thought we’d die like this.

step 6: sleeping

we’re lulled by the tide, our heads bob in the current and seafoam knots us in froth. we are unconscious but we still see the water, rushing in a steady wave over our soft eyelids, fingering our raw skin. we see the light drumming on the surface, and in these moments it’s unclear whether its a dream or if its heaven.

step 7: drowning

all this longing and waking and sleeping and time is getting on. we cannot live forever without breath and water fills our lungs quicker. saltwater seeps into our cracks and itches our skin. we sleep and we don’t witness our own last moments, but we can tell we aren’t here anymore. suspended in a water, sinking or rising, we know it’s only seconds before we break the surface.

general wip taglist (pls ask to be added or removed!) : @gracestowewriting @flip-phones @shaelinwrites @chewingthescenery @august-iswriting @dallonswords @wildswrites @nodeadnarrators @annlillyjose @shaonharryandpannisim @letsgetsquiggly @strangerays @mel-writes-with-her-dragons @teaandtypewriters @kahaaniyaa @coffeeandcalligraphy @47crayons @writing-is-a-martial-art