Written 7th August, 2026 for The Beautiful Impossible Poetry Contest sponsored by Sotto Poet
You do not need a riverbed to drown. The drought is carried deep within the chest. There is no water in this quiet room, Yet sudden silence floods the empty lungs. The drought is carried deep within the chest, A cracked and ochre basin of the mind. Yet sudden silence floods the empty lungs, And absence brings a current of its own. A cracked and ochre basin of the mind, Where reaching for a memory builds a sea. And absence brings a current of its own, The sheer starvation rising like a tide. Where reaching for a memory builds a sea, You gasp for breath in perfectly dry air. The sheer starvation rising like a tide, The devastating weight of being alone. You gasp for breath in perfectly dry air, There is no water in this quiet room. The devastating weight of being alone— You do not need a riverbed to drown.
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