Mother is Drowning

I slowly drop my body into the water.
Like a sinking balloon, buoyant but eventually succumbing
to my surroundings, I release.
The pool is cold and dark underneath me;
Its body feels oily between my fingers and toes.
I’m surrounded by filth.  Rubber tires, foam cups, cigarette butts.
These cigarettes; the same tar and smoke that plagues my own lungs
now plagues hers as well.
Once plump and carefree, these sea puppies
now migrate with a purpose they will never see the end of.
You watch me as I crawl through ashy muck, helping her along
as best I can to shore.  I can’t do it alone.
She’s drowning and we can only watch,
suffocating like air in an hourglass.