Poem: Disembarking The Boat

Disembarking The Boat

I fell once, a boy rushing his steps,
even at that edge, and I dropped,
slipped between boat and doc,
held what I could grasp
to not sink beneath,
but being there, even remaining above,
unsubmerged and still breathing
was not relief, not there,
in the tight space between
with the great forms that trapped me,
threatened to huddle closer,
to crush me or force me down.
I was snatched clear, though,
was pulled back out before there was harm.
I do not recall whose hand it was,
it did not matter in that moment,
though now I wish I remembered.

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