Silence

Hoarse from speaking to herself

she seals her lips with a single suture.

She has trapped her voice inside, screams

no longer cut her lips to draw another’s blood.

She believes she will sail deeper oceans on this avowal 

of silence. She becomes weightless swallowing

words her thoughts prompt her not to speak.

When I unpick the stitch, she mumbles she has no desire 

to be saved. As she steps up to the liferaft, I take 

her hand, alarmed by this new storm blowing through us.