She lies she lies –
Tell me you love me.
She smiles she smiles –
Tell me you’re happy.
She cries she cries –
Baby, I’m sorry.
She tries to feel things that were never there
–A well of emotions lying untouched behind her ribs –
But the well is empty, perhaps it was never full;
It cannot save a field of dying crops and it cannot save the man.
She watches him drown before her, arms treading water,
His mouth barely dragging in air.
She has done this to him, but maybe he has done it to himself.
The sand of the shore feels wet and smooth beneath her feet, begging her to come out, to save the dying man.
The water froths violently at her ankles –
She doesn’t know how to swim, doesn’t know how to save him, wishes he had never asked her to.
The moon pushes the tide and the tide pushes her.
She is caught in this war that she never asked to fight –
Her mind wants to give in but her heart remains unmoved in her chest.
The moon pushes the tide and the tide pushes her,
But she is a wall of stone; she will not be moved.
Baby, I’m sorry –
She cries she cries.
Tell me you’re happy –
She frowns she frowns.
Tell me you love me –
She speaks the truth.
She opens her mouth and the tide rushes in, attempting to drown her words.
But when the waves recede, they bring with them the turning of the tide, the setting of their sun.
The man is waiting.
Tell me you love me –
…No.