I’m drowning in metaphor, the words flow
Like water breaching tightly-packed sandbags
Flooding my thoughts with too much to say and
Not enough talent to make them cohere.

Beneath these words I hide myself from you
Too embarrassed or bashful to speak plain
I float up yet another abstraction
Praying for a transformative response.

When I finally break through the surface,
Breathe in the cool life in great gasping gulps,
Coughing out my silent lungs to the air,
my focus follows the flow of your mind.

In waves I am lifted enough to see
The momentary salvation of land.

(June 2011)