Hypothermia

It’s because I fell under the ice

That I grew accustomed to the cold.

My temperature dropped alongside expectation.

My panicked shivers became my new stillness.

My flesh turned blue until I could no longer recognize myself.

I was numb.

But I grew gills to keep living.

It wasn’t the surface, and I missed the warmth of the sun on my face,

But I was alive.

And if I’m lucky, every now and then, I catch a glimpse of the light shining through the hole I dropped through

And I’m reminded of what I could have had and could have been

Breathing air, head in the clouds, wind on my cheeks.

Instead, I’m frostbitten and sinking

But I’ll be damned if I left myself drown.