lifeline

just before you fall
for the umpteenth time
in three dozen plus years
just before you lose that last breath of life
a life of cold darkness
as that which engulfs you now
just before you fall
you reach for that lifeline
a link to your very roots
father … drifting in guilt-free retirement
mother … long buried by her own misery
children … too neglected to care
uncles … aunts
cousins … siblings
long abandoned by you
as you were by them
your lovers … your friends
those soul mates washed ashore
by your torrential currents of rage
and just before you fall
for the umpteenth time
in three dozen plus years
you reach for that lifeline
but it is now too weathered
to shoulder your burden
you cannot rise … you cannot breathe
and just before you fall
you watch that lifeline
floating ever forward … steady as it goes
ever on course … for a chance to renew

© 1996 by Marina Ortiz

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