She said to you once that all sailors
Are just waiting to drown

And you responded that
Maybe she was just a siren
Waiting to pull them under,
Because the fleetest of feet
Cannot dance on the waves
Without wings,
No matter their talent

"But I, I and my metal wings,
I still fly"
Yes, you say: on the backs of others,
You soar towards your own
Infinity
Just like your mother
Years ago

She bristles, she trills,
An angry bird,
A heart folded so neatly
Against you you can't
But sigh at the inevitability
Of the pain and the longing
It's your folly, really
You waited for her
You chose
You knew of the drowning to come

And she smiles, then, as if reading your thoughts
Maybe she is; the girl is inhuman
And her lips part so slightly,
Issuing a salty breeze,
And you feel at once afloat
On the back of a great body
Wading through water
Thick with memory
Trying to find the reason
This quill has so firmly pierced your heart

Her wings are crooked now
Have been for some time,
More scrap metal than ethereal,
But when they glint in the sun
And you see your reflection,
You see the most glorious
Mirror and know,
Whatever she is,
She is precious

Sailor, sailor, lulled by the sea
And the siren's seaweed memories
Drifting towards disaster with lazy grace
Only a hint of apprehension marring your face;
You chose;
You can feel your lungs constrict
In preparation for the drowning to come

"I'll breathe for you," she says
With the surety of a hollow phrase
And you close your eyes,
Take a breath,
Exhale into her face;
Then the time of questioning
Is ended and you
Repeat, I chose, I chose

I chose the drowning to come

For the fleetest of feet
Cannot dance on the waves
Without wings,
No matter their talent

And the heaviest of wings
Cannot hold you aloft

And the faintest of breath
Cannot fill you up

And the brightest of mirrors
Cannot make you a face

And the lightest of hearts
Cannot last for too long;

So this sailor
Is waiting to drown