Here adrift in this ocean
I don’t know how long
I have been treading water
Up a swell
Down a swell
Sometimes the water is still like glass
Everywhere a new rippling horizon
And there’s nothing to do
But float between clouds
Other times it is waves on waves continually churning
The water whips off the breaker top
Salt stinging
But no time to wipe my eyes
Before the next wave comes
Tumbling me back
I’m thankful to have you all around me
Most of these days
It’s all that keeps me afloat
Up a swell
Down another swell
I once saw a family sink
First the father
White hair streaming behind him as he went underwater
Face first arms limp
The last air bubbles escaped his nose
Rising up
As his body faded into the dark below
Then his wife and daughter began sobbing
They held each other’s hands and
Dipped below a swell
Gowns fanning out around them
Then they drifted slowly down
Eyes closed heads bowed
Those of us still above
Dove after them taking big breaths and
Swimming straight down
Finally we reached the daughter
Pulling her up alone
Gasping and crying
Coughing and coughing water
We have the sad honor
Treading on the surface here
To look down
To watch the mother sink after the father
We can no longer see
Leaving us wondering why and
Why not me
Dr. Meinzen is a hospitalist at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, SCL Health and Colorado Canyons Emergency Department, Family Health West, Grand Junction, Colo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and neuroscience from Tulane University in New Orleans prior to completing his medical degree there as well.