The Undertow

Contributor: Mark Tulin

- -
I took my life for granted;
figured I’d never lose my balance; thought I could walk a tightrope
on a single toe.

I don’t need to take precautions or wear a life jacket
or even scream for help.
I'm special, that way;
nothing’s ever going to overpower me.

But the next thing I knew,
I was pulled by the undertow.
The planet reversed itself and I became a casualty, drowning in my ego.

They found me floating
like a piece of driftwood
from the shoreline to the sea.


- - -
Mark Tulin has an upcoming fiction collection, The Asthmatic Kid and Other Stories, and a poetry collection called Awkward Grace.