"Watching"
He saved you, but you couldn’t save him.
You couldn’t bring him above the water,
for that one gulp of air he needed.
No.
It’s not that you couldn’t, it’s that you wouldn’t.
Your last words to him were,
You’ll be okay.
But, he wouldn’t be.
And now he can’t be.
How do you feel now?
Someone reached out to you for help, and you slapped their hand away.
You let him drown.
Let him down.
Now look back,
Was he really okay?
Was he really fine?
You could have saved him.
Could have thrown him a life raft.
But you didn’t.
Instead, you watched.
You stood there, and you did absolutely… Nothing!
He practically screamed your name, as you stood there….
Watching him drown.
You watched as the last few air bubbles surfaced,
And then you watched the water be calmed…. For good.
-Justin Thorne
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I love the ambiguity of this piece. While I get the sense that this scenario is a metaphor, I’m not entirely sure. The details feel like a recollection of a memory more so than abstract descriptions. I enjoy the repetition of certain words used to keep the rhythm and the frustration and intrigue you create using the reader’s uncertainty. I’m left wondering: Is this fiction? Did this really happen? Is the scenario literal or symbolic? Why wouldn’t the narrator save this person? Was it an accident? Cowardice? Does the narrator blame his/herself? If so, how is that impacting him? What happened?
I’m torn between needing to know and not wanting to know. Nice touch leaving the interpretation up to the reader’s imagination.
This is a very powerful piece. The details you used throughout the poem helped me to feel the emotions that the characters were feeling. I particularly enjoyed the lines, “Someone reached out to you for help, and you slapped their hand away. You let him drown. Let him down.” These words flow well together, and the message is one of great depth. The story makes me wonder if the person that didn’t drown feels guilty, or if he/she is glad that they didn’t save him.