Everybody saw me waving;
If anyone knew I was drowning,
They did not try to rescue me.
Perhaps they too thought it was
A sign, rather than a coincidence
Distorted to fit whatever fantasy
I found myself playing that day.

She heard the bleeps as music,
But to me they were a warning
I failed to heed, an urgent reminder
Of what I already knew but
Found myself choosing to ignore.

The only thing mirrored was
The distance: between words and deeds,
Between promise and delivery,
Between happiness and reality.

As I shrank myself to fit
An ever smaller box,
An insistent voice told me that
The feeling was exhilarating when
I knew it was the opposite.

05/13/2024

Author's Note: A response to the song "Such Great Heights" by the Postal Service.

Posted on 06/16/2024
Copyright © 2024 Richard Vince