swim away

he reminded me to breathe
when no one else would look me in
the eye

second tries won’t always be an
option and i cannot
afford to fail again this time

it was on a warm fall evening
when i was held under
the boughs of a great evergreen
and our feet forgot to
touch the ground

they tell me that i can’t accept criticism,
but they don’t know how long
i have held in all the words,
all the faces i never let them know

on that night i ran my fingers along
the lines etched onto his skin and
he was the first to really see me

maybe i do close myself,
but how come they don’t listen