Send Him to the Lake

I've grown tired of crawling

On the thinnest of ropes

Waiting for a breakthrough, he falters again

Arms extended above the surface

Gesturing vaguely towards nothing

With eyes that betray his inner vitriol

And words that poison the memory of better days

Set off by nothing

Pulled down to the pit

How did we displease?

Do we really deserve this?

What’s taken him over?

Did he try to fight it?

Strung out on rage

He wields his voice

I feel it falling apart

Constituent threads unravel

Like flesh wedding steel

Look at me

Look at me

Look at me

Look at me, you have to answer for this

I don't want to let go

Of everything we built

I have always maintained

A hope of seeing it through

Then I remember the hurt

I remember the disdain in his eye

I remember the fear I felt

I remember the nights spent shaking

I remember it all

Wounds flare open

Stinging mercilessly

Gnawing on the rotten meat of trauma

Another memory emerges

I remember the joy

I remember the laughs we shared

I remember the solidarity

I remember the youthful ambition

I remember it all

Never knowing where to place these feelings

Weighing hurt against years of camaraderie

Finding solace in vulnerable moments

But I need to see a deeper cleansing

(Send him to the lake)

Where the waters can heal his strife

(Send him to the lake)

Where his spirit can be renewed

(Send him to the lake)

Where his trauma can loosen its grip

(Send him to the lake)

So our kinship can flourish once more

(Send him to the lake)

Send him to the lake