Repose

In need of rest...

Dirty fingernails,

water rising around me.

Digging deep in miry clay,

strips of torn wisp fabric

trailing halo about my head.

Through the film above,

drumming rain, dancing light.

How am I breathing right now?

Fleeting thoughts float by, 

trickles on wave.

My arms go slack,

the flow taking hold,

a gentle back and forth sway.

Sand runs smooth

through milk fingertips,

counting down days

until I can face the fray, 

swimming wild again 

against the current.