seize the day

for too long, Shams, I was swimming with under toe
pulling me down, my lungs bursting with saltwater,
get me out of this little tank, struggling and fighting,
knowing I had one hand on the life preserver,
the other on the tank's edge.
Kicking and beating and fighting so hard,
when it was as simple as breathing,
as simple as breathing,
as simple as
breathing.
He came and
offered me a plush towel,
a pair of wooden bath slippers,
and even if that was all he ever did for me,
I am so grateful,
on my knees.